Human
by RogueRavenclaw99
Summary: Life as the Locust princess can be...interesting. Her whole life, Reyna has lived surrounded by the Locust and her mother Myrrah. How does a human grow up with a species bent on the destruction of humanity?
1. Birth

**Hello everybody. It's time for a new fanfiction! This one is another** _**Gears of War **_**story and will be another multiple chapter series. The main characters in this one will be Queen Myrrah and Reyna. Spoilers for **_**Gears of War 4**_ **after this sentence. **

**At the end of the last game, Kait shows everybody a necklace with the Locust symbol, claiming it was her grandmother's. This caused the entire fandom to speculate that Myrrah was the mother of Reyna and therefore the grandmother of Kait. **

**I wanted to write a story about how exactly the hater of the human race would react to being a mother of another human, especially being down in the Hollows with the other Locust. Anyways, enough rambling. On to the story! **

Myrrah laid down in her bed in her private chambers, groaning with pain. She had been in pain for several hours, and no Locust could heal her.

There were a few Kantus monks at her bedside in case something went wrong, but they were mystified as to what to do. The Berserkers did this process several times a month, but it was so much easier.

"Don't just stand there you idiots!" Myrrah yelled, her voice strained with pain. "Help me!"

One of the Kantus lifted Myrrah up so she was in a sitting position as he fluffed her pillow to make her more comfortable. "What does that do?!" Myrrah yelled, shoving the Kantus away from her.

Myrrah felt another pain in her stomach and pushed again, swearing as she did so. "Almost," one of the Kantus said, looking at Myrrah's stomach.

Myrrah wanted nothing more than for the pain to end, and she took a deep breath before giving another push.

A shrill screaming that made the Kantus cover their ears echoed throughout the Queen's private chambers.

* * *

Myrrah looked at the bundle of white blankets in her arms and frowned. The Kantus had helped her through this painful experience, and she was grateful for it. It was the thing in the blankets that made her frown.

Myrrah had hated humans for so long because of what they did to her subjects. Her beautiful creatures had been deemed dangerous to society, and were forced into hiding in the mountains. Myrrah and the original Sires had found a tunnel leading to Nexus, and they had thrived from there.

Until more human interruptions. Her beautiful Sires had evolved into the powerful Locust species that she had control over now, but the humans threatened to ruin it. The humans exposed more and more Imulsion until eventually, some of the Locust had become the exploding Lambent. This furthered Myrrah's hatred of the human species.

But Myrrah herself couldn't help being human. The Locust needed someone to lead them, and she was the only human to not see them as monsters, so they made her their leader. That still didn't erase the fact, however, that she was still a human.

And this bundle of blankets was proof that Myrrah was still human. For in this blanket was a human baby, Myrrah's daughter.

Myrrah had a vague idea who the father of this child was, but she refused to acknowledge it. This baby in her arms was nothing but a reminder to her that she was incurably human, and she wanted nothing to do with it.

But there was nothing she could do about it. The Locust soldiers were still locked in a war with the Lambent, and there was a brief hope that Adam Fenix could save them. Until he could, however, Myrrah and her soldiers were to stay underground, away from the humans.

As Myrrah glared at the infant, the baby opened her eyes and revealed them to be chocolate brown, similar to Myrrah's. The child looked up at her mother and fussed, undoing the blankets. Myrrah rolled her eyes and waited for the infant to start screaming like all human infants did.

But the child didn't. The baby moved her arms around until she grabbed hold of one of the fingers on Myrrah's free hand. This calmed the infant down, and Myrrah smiled at her. "You aren't like other humans, are you?" Myrrah asked the baby.

The baby yawned and closed its eyes yet again, allowing Myrrah to pull her finger away. Myrrah looked down at the baby and said, "You will be the Locust Princess my child," Myrrah said quietly so she didn't wake up the baby. "I will call you Reyna, because you will be Queen in due time."

**Ironically enough, the name Reyna actually does mean Queen.**


	2. Emergence

**Before the chapter begins, I would like to issue a formal apology to the author Radio Rascal. I read their story **_Gearsfics_** quite some time ago and must have archived the details of Ch. 6 of the story in my head and**** accidentally**** rewrote it for the second chapter of this story. That is why the chapter has been deleted. I had no intent of plagiarizing their work**** and it was purely an accident. Now, onto the next chapter of the story!**

Six months later, Myrrah sat in her bedroom, watching Reyna crawling on the floor. The Princess babbled a bit before crawling towards her mother. Reyna fell on Myrrah's feet and giggled.

Myrrah bent down to pick up her daughter and sighed. Today was the day they had been planning for for years. The straw that broke the camel's back had been when Adam told her that it would be several more years until the cure for Lambency would be ready. Her troops were not ready to fight a war that they were losing for several years.

It had been Karn that suggested starting a war they could win. Top it off with Myrrah's hatred for humans and that was what lead her to today.

Her troops were strategically placed directly under every single major city on the whole planet. All they needed to wait for were the orders to move forward.

Myrrah placed Reyna in a crate similar to the ones that Tickers were held in, except this cage was lined with a blanket. Reyna fussed once Myrrah set her down, and Myrrah picked her up again so she didn't start crying.

Myrrah left her room and walked to the throne room with Reyna still in her arms, playing with a piece of fabric hanging off of Myrrah's dress.

Once in the throne room, RAAM walked up to her and said, "Ready."

Myrrah looked at him sighed, shifting Reyna to her other side. "Wait until midday," she instructed him. "And do not be merciful to any of them."

RAAM nodded and walked away, supposedly to join his troops.

Reyna fussed a bit in her mother's arms so Myrrah switched the way she was holding the infant. Reyna looked up at her mother, eyes wide with curiosity.

Myrrah looked at her daughter and sighed. If only she was still that optimistic. She had once been like her daughter had, all those years ago.

* * *

_Myrrah's feet had been aching for hours, but she needed to continue. She and Niles were all the new creatures had left. All of the other humans from New Hope had either left or were killed, not being able to understand how to help these creatures. _

_The Sires had been placed in stasis, left to be watched by an AI system Niles had made. _

_Chairman Monroe had ordered the shutdown of New Hope because he was afraid of the backlash he would receive when people found out what Imulsion exposure did. _

_This was why Myrrah hated humans. Always covering for their mistakes with more lies until they couldn't save themselves anymore. _

_The only human Myrrah trusted was Niles. Niles wasn't like any other human Myrrah had ever encountered. He was kind to the Sires, and even kinder to the new creatures, calling them all his 'children.' _

_Niles was significantly older than Myrrah, with him being in his late sixties and her barely even being twenty four. Niles' health had been slowly diminishing as they progressed. He never said anything, but Myrrah could see him limping and hear him coughing. _

_Once they all reached the mountain, it was clear they had to rest for Niles' sake. He sat on the frozen ground, head leaning against a boulder. "Myrrah," he said, his voice weak. _

_Myrrah ran over to him from the front of the pack, concern in her eyes. "Niles," she said, her voice trembling. _

"_I'm not going to make it Myrrah," he told her. "Please take care of the children for me."_

"_But they need you," Myrrah said. "I need you."_

"_I knew I was too weak for this journey right when the chairman ordered the evacuation."_

"_Then why did you come? You could have left with the others."_

"_You said it yourself. The children needed me. Please take care of them. I know you will. Find them somewhere safe to live, somewhere nobody will harm them. They need a leader. Be safe Myrrah."_

_With those final words, Niles closed his eyes, gone from the world. Myrrah closed her eyes and sobbed quietly. She wiped her eyes and looked back at the new creatures. "You," she said, pointing at one of them. "Carry him. He requires a proper burial."_

"_Yes my Queen," the creature said, making Myrrah's eyes widen. This was the first time she had ever heard them speak besides a growling sound, and they thought of her as their Queen. _

_The creatures all looked at her, awaiting orders. "What are you staring at?" she asked angrily. "Start moving again."_

"_Yes my Queen," all of the creatures said in unison. _

_Myrrah thought about Niles' final request, and decided he was right. These creatures needed a leader, and she was it. She was now Queen Myrrah, and nobody would ever forget her or the creatures the humans abandoned._

* * *

"My Queen?"

The questioning tone of the Theron Guard made Myrrah shake her head, stopping her reminiscing. "What?" she asked, clearly angry.

"We are ready," the guard said.

Myrrah looked at Reyna once again, and the baby giggled. Myrrah sighed and looked back at the guard. "Go," she said, her voice cold.

With that order, the Locust emerged and wreaked havoc on Sera, in hopes to end an old war and start a new one.

**Okay, so some context to this chapter. I've done the math and Reyna would be less than a year old when Emergence Day happened, so I made her six months at the time. The flashback take place about thirteen years ago making Myrrah around thirty seven, which seems about right. That would make her fifty four in the end of** _**Gears of War 3**_**, and that sounds about right. Also, as for updates for this story, I will continue to try and upload chapters on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but the chapters will have to come later in the day because I am starting school again. If I miss an upload or two due to school, I apologize for it.**


	3. Growing Up a Princess

As time went by, Reyna grew to be a very _interesting_ subject for the Locust to watch. She was very sneaky and playful, especially with the younger Locust.

Her mother gave her her own private chambers when she was seven and had palace guards specifically to wait on her hand and foot.

Despite this, though, Reyna didn't always enjoy being treated like a Princess. Her palace guards, while helpful to her, also got in the way quite a bit. They wouldn't let her into certain parts of the Hollow in fear she could hurt herself, and they even kept her from seeing her mother on some days.

Myrrah used to have these problems as well, but her anger and higher title made the Locust quickly back off. While Reyna could control some of the Locust, they would ignore her in favor of the orders given by the Queen.

But, nevertheless, Reyna still enjoyed living in the Hollows. She could read both Tyran script and Locust Runes thanks to her mother and the Kantus'. She was also fluent in Tyran and in Locust tongue, with the latter being contributed to growing up around the creatures and gradually learning their language.

Reyna loved exploring the parts of the Hollow that she was allowed to, and even sneaking off into the forbidden parts when her guards were distracted.

Reyna also started to grow into a beautiful young woman. Unlike her mother, she had chocolate brown hair but she shared her mother's brown eyes. Reyna almost always wore her hair in a braid, similar to her mother, except her braid was always on her shoulder, not tied up elaborately.

One night, after getting in trouble yet again for exploring, Reyna was being tucked into bed by Myrrah and asked a question that the Queen hoped she never would.

"Where's my father?"

Myrrah's expression didn't change, but Reyna clearly heard the small sharp breath her mother took in. "What makes you ask that my princess?" Myrrah asked.

"Mother, I've explored a lot of restricted areas of the Hollow. I know how our subjects reproduce. The small whelps are made by Berserkers and Drones mating. All of the Locust have parents in some form, and that's what I'm asking. Where is my father?"

Myrrah's expression still didn't change, but Reyna noticed how her mother was blinking more to cover for her uncomfortableness. "Your father was a human, and that's all I wish to say about it," Myrrah responded.

"But-"

"Enough Reyna," Myrrah interrupted. "Can we please not talk about it?"

Reyna went silent for a minute and then thought of a new question. "Why are we fighting us?"

Myrrah looked at her daughter confusingly and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Why are we fighting other people?"

Myrrah hesitated a bit before sighing again. "We are fighting the humans because we have no choice," she told her daughter. "If we don't fight the humans, then we are going to lose to another more powerful force."

"The Lambent?"

Myrrah looked at her daughter questionably and Reyna replied, "I saw some of them when I was sneaking around."

"Alright. Yes, the Lambent. We are fighting the humans in order to win. If we win, we can rule the surface and not have to worry about the Lambent down below."

"But why don't we just tell the people that? Why do we have to fight?"

"Do you know why we were placed underground in the first place, my daughter?"

Reyna thought about the question for a minute before shaking her head. "We are underground because of those wretched humans," she said. "The humans saw what overexposure to Imulsion did to them, but they ignored it and forced the subjects they had doomed away. I was one of the only humans who cared about them, and they regarded me as their Queen. We found a tunnel in the mountains that allowed us to visit Nexus and we took over."

Reyna's face screwed with concentration as she tried to process all of this information. "So the people are the reason we're down here? And that's why we are fighting them?"

Myrrah nodded her head, and another thought occurred to the young Locust Princess. "Are there any good humans?"

Myrrah thought about the question for a minute before replying, "No there aren't. I once knew a single good human, but he passed away some time ago. None of those humans on the surface deserve any mercy at all."

Reyna yawned and lied down, and Myrrah pulled the covers over her daughter's body. "Goodnight Reyna," she said softly.

Reyna yawned again and closed her eyes as she said, "Goodnight Mom."

Myrrah then carefully left the room and turned off the light before gently closing the door.

**This chapter ended up being a bit longer than I had intended, but I think it was sweet nonetheless. And I do believe that Myrrah would lie, or at least speak half truths, to Reyna so that she didn't ask questions or get suspicious about her past. **


	4. A Meet-up with Delta

**This chapter involves another time skip, this one about 8 years into the future, making Reyna 15 and the year 15 A.E. It is also set around the time that Operation Hollow Storm happened, so around **_**Gears of War 2 **_**time.**

Reyna walked down the long hallway leading away from her bedroom, the heels of her boots clacking on the floor. As much as Myrrah had persisted, Reyna refused to wear heels even in her formal wear. The same formal wear she was dressed in today.

On that day, Reyna was wearing a golden dress with turquoise straps and black tights underneath. Her hair was in it's typical braid draped over her shoulder, with a golden hairpiece with a spike on the end in the middle of the braid. The silver tiara on her head clinked lightly as it touched the golden hairpiece.

There were no Theron Guards with her this time, for they were in Nexus with Queen Myrrah, which was where Reyna was going.

As she walked towards Nexus, she heard gunfire in the distance, which alarmed her. Myrrah had told her that they were still winning the war, even after the Lightmass Bomb.

But if they were winning, why were the humans fighting below the surface now?

Reyna felt the earth below her shake, and she knew that the Riftworm was moving again. Her old babysitter Skorge somehow had the ability to control the massive rockworm, and they were using it to win both wars at once by sinking the cities that the humans lived in.

As Reyna approached the massive doors to the throne room, she saw two Theron Guards, but not the ones that were hers, guarding it. They bowed in respect before signaling a Drone to open the doors.

Reyna walked over to the throne her mother was sitting on, the Locust around her bowing. She ignored then ask and walked over to the throne in front of Myrrah. "Mother," Reyna said.

"Reyna," Myrrah said. "Are you still wearing those awful boots?"

"I don't like heels Mother."

"But you are a Princess! You are even in your formal wear and yet you still wear boots?"

"Yes."

"Very well then. Do you know why I called you here today?"

Reyna thought about the question before shaking her head no. "You are aware of our plans, correct?" Myrrah asked her daughter.

"To sink the human cities to destroy the Lament? I'm aware of them."

"Are you packed and ready to leave in a moment's notice?"

"Why?"

"You heard the gunfire as you walked here, didn't you?"

Reyna nodded her head and Myrrah said, "As a last ditch effort, the humans have decided that fighting us here has a remote chance of winning the war. While we aren't completely concerned by this, we have started sending more troops to the surface just in case."

"Why are you telling me this now?"

"I believe you should go with the next group sent up to the surface."

Reyna didn't react for a minute until she finally processed the sentence. When she did, her face twisted into one of rage. "You want me to leave?!" she yelled.

"Yes I do," Myrrah said calmly. "It is becoming too dangerous for you down here. We are almost ready to sink Jacinto and have already started to send troops up to the surface. When the next group goes, I want you with them."

"But this is our home! _My _home! I want to stay and fight!"

"Absolutely not! You are a Princess, not a common soldier! You are to go up to the surface with the next group of soldiers and they will escort you to safety!"

"My Queen!" a voice shouted from the doors. Skorge ran up to the throne, panting. He immediately bowed and Myrrah gestured for him to stand.

"What is it?" she asked, slightly irritated at being interrupted.

"The Riftworm is slain!" Skorge said in his gravelly voice.

Both Reyna and Myrrah's eyes widened at this news, and Myrrah looked at one of the Theron Guards. "You, start evacuating more troops quicker," she ordered. "I want the Hollow to be empty!"

The guard ran out of the room while Reyna looked at her mother. Myrrah said, "Reyna, you must leave. The Hollow is no longer safe. Leave with the next group before I make you."

Two Theron Guards that were next to the throne advanced towards Reyna, but she held her hand up and said, "Fine. I'll go. But I don't need them escorting me."

Myrrah nodded as Reyna walked out of the throne room, the massive doors shutting behind her.

* * *

As Reyna walked back to her bedroom, she heard her mother's voice over the speakers that lined the Hollow. "_There are no greater warriors anywhere,_" she said over the speakers. "_We cannot be stopped._"

Reyna continued to walk to her room and grabbed her bag full of supplies. As she packed, there was a knock on her door. She opened it and saw her two Theron Guards standing in the doorway. "Let's go," one said in Locust tongue.

"I'm coming," she said, also in Locust tongue, slightly irritated.

Once she grabbed the bag, the guards stood on both sides of her and walked her down a series of halls until they were with a group of Drones. "Let's go," one of them said in Locust tongue.

Just as they were about to emerge, Myrrah's voice came on the speakers again. "_We cannot allow the Lambent to pollute the surface,_" she said, earning cheers from the group Reyna was with. "_We must bury their infection here. The world is rightfully ours and we will-_"

Myrrah was cut off as another voice came over the speakers. "_Delta Squad's in your house bitch!_" the voice shouted, earning looks of confusion from everybody, including Reyna. She had never heard another human voice besides her mother, especially one that loud.

"_You hear that shit?!" _the voice continued. "_You grubby-ass bitches are going down! Like way down-dead down so down you ain't even gonna know which way is up! Your asses are gonna be cryin' to your skank-ass queen, 'Oh mommy, don't let the bad men hurt us!' Fuck you! We gonna whup your momma's ass! Woo!-"_

The voice cut out and all of the Locust looked at each other in confusion. Reyna looked up at the guards and asked, "Who was that?"

The Theron Guards looked at each other and nodded their heads. "Watch her," one of them said to the group of Drones.

As the guards turned to leave, Reyna sprinted past them, causing them to yell in alarm. "Princess!" they both yelled, running to keep up with her.

Reyna ran all through the Hollow until she got back to Nexus and burst into the throne room "Reyna?!" Myrrah asked. "What are you doing here?! You're supposed to be on the surface by now!"

"Who was that voice over the speakers?" Reyna asked.

"That doesn't matter. What matters is your safety. Now go."

There was then gunfire near the doors and Myrrah said, "Reyna, hide."

"But why should I-"

"Now!"

As the doors opened, Reyna quickly hid behind the throne. She heard heavy footsteps approach the throne and saw her mother stand up and walk towards the other people.

"You're the first humans to ever desecrate this palace with your presence," Myrrah said.

"It's her…" Reyna heard a different voice say.

"And I assure you, you will most certainly be the last," Myrrah continued.

"That's the Locust Queen?" a third voice asked.

"I thought she was supposed to be butt ugly," a voice that Reyna recognized as the one that was on the speakers said.

"If you're planning on flooding the Hollow, I guess we would be the last," a gravelly voice said. Reyna could have sworn she had heard that voice somewhere before, but couldn't quite place it.

"Yes," Myrrah said. "Though you destroyed the Riftworm, there are still ways for us to sink Jacinto. You will perish along with the Lambent."

"Not if we sink it first," the gravelly voice replied.

"Skorge informed me of your plan to sink Jacinto before us. I'm afraid it won't work."

"Don't be so sure."

As the gravelly voice said this, Reyna peeked her head out slightly from behind the throne. She looked at the humans and stared in awe.

Reyna had never seen another human besides her mother and was fascinated by how different they looked. They all looked like they could be different species.

Two of them had cream colored skin, one of them had light brown skin and the last one had dark brown skin. One of the ones with the cream skin had bright yellow hair with glowing blue goggles on his forehead. The second one had a black do rag tied around his head and a scar across his right eye.

The lighter brown skin man had black hair and looked very upset. The darker brown skinned man had short cropped black hair with dark brown eyes. They were all wearing full body armor that covered them neck to toes.

The darker skinned man looked over at the throne and Reyna ducked behind it again, hoping he didn't see her.

"Oh, but I am," Myrrah said to the gravelly voiced man. "We already have an army en route to Jacinto to prevent that from happening."

Reyna heard the men shift around a bit in their boots and then heard Myrrah ask, "Tell me, is it true… you're the son of Adam Fenix?"

As Reyna tried to place the name, the gravelly voice asked, "What's it to you?"

"He spoke highly of you," Myrrah said. "It's a shame that you didn't follow his path."

"The hell you talking about?" the gravelly voice asked.

"It no longer matters. Skorge-destroy them."

Skorge growled in response and advanced towards the humans while the gravelly voice shouted, "Baird, Cole, go after the Queen!"

Reyna saw that the yellow haired human and the darker brown human ran after her mother. Skorge jumped to the ceiling and used his dual chainsaw staff to cut down the chandelier, making Reyna cover her ears.

As the massive chandelier shattered on the rock ground, Reyna yelled in alarm. Luckily, the noise was so loud that the other two humans didn't hear her shout.

Reyna ran out of the throne room through the same back door her mother had and saw that she and the two other humans had disappeared. Past the door was a long hallway with several doors that even Reyna didn't know where they lead.

Reyna started to walk down the long hallway, opening doors. "Mother!" she shouted as she walked down the hall. "Mother! Mom!"

A pair of arms came from one door and pulled Reyna in, covering her mouth. Reyna attempted to speak, but the hand was muffling her voice. "Quiet!" a harsh voice whispered.

The hand moved away from her mouth and Reyna saw that it was Myrrah who had pulled her into that room.

"Mother!" Reyna exclaimed in a whisper. "What is happening?"

"We need to leave now," Myrrah said. "Come. We need to escape."

Reyna looked confused and Myrrah said, "Those humans plan to sink Jacinto first. We cannot be here when that happens. Now come on."

Myrrah grabbed Reyna's hand and pulled her along add they walked down the hallway and away from Nexus. "Where are we going Mother?" Reyna asked.

Myrrah said nothing but continued to lead Reyna into a section of the Hollow she had never been in before. "Mother, this is one of the restricted areas you said I couldn't go into," Reyna said.

"Conditions have changed," Myrrah responded. "Come on. We're almost there."

As they continued walking, they eventually walked into a hangar of some sorts. There we quite a few Drones and Theron Guards there guarding the…

"Reavers?" Reyna asked.

"Yes. This is where we keep them."

"Is that how we're going to escape?"

"Not quite."

A giant beetle covered in golden armor then landed in front of them, causing Reyna to shout. "Do not be alarmed," Myrrah said. "This is my personal mount. This is my Tempest."

The Tempest buzzed it's four wings as it landed carefully on its four legs. Myrrah mounted the Tempest and held out her hand to Reyna. "Come," she said.

Reyna carefully climbed on the Tempest and the second she was secured, it took to the sky, flying far away from the Hollow.

**Man this chapter was long! I wanted to write this to show Reyna's POV during Operation Hollow Storm and how she reacts to being forced away from her home. This chapter actually took me quite a bit of time to write, mostly being due to the fact that I had to pull dialogue from **_**Gears of War 2**_'**s campaign. Here's a link to the particular video I consulted to help me with the script. ** watch?v=Oqy4oeiO34Q


	5. Endeavor

As the Tempest flew high above Jacinto where no humans could see it, Reyna saw as the massive city of Jacinto fell to the ground and flooded the Hollows with seawater. Reyna covered her head with her arm, not having ever been above surface before in her life. "The surface is so bright!" Reyna yelled over the wind.

Myrrah said nothing but directed the Tempest away from Jacinto and out towards the ocean. "Where are we going Mother?!" Reyna shouted.

"Somewhere where you will be safe!" Myrrah shouted.

"Where is that?!" Reyna shouted. "They destroyed our home! Where will we go now?!"

With a sigh, Myrrah said quietly, "I'm not sure."

* * *

Myrrah and Reyna flew for hours until they finally found a safe place to land. The Tempest landed on the ground safely, and Myrrah helped Reyna down. "Where are we?" Reyna asked.

"An abandoned human shipyard," Myrrah said. "I believe they called this place 'Endeavor.' We should be safe here for the time being."

Several Reavers then landed around them and the Tempest and the Locust that got off bowed to Myrrah. "As you all know,the humans succeeded in sinking Jacinto before us and have flooded the Hollows," Myrrah said. "This is a minor setback in our quest for dominance, but we still shall prevail."

Myrrah then looked at Reyna, who looked sad at losing her home. "Your world can end in the blink of an eye," Myrrah said. "One event, one unexpected twist of fate... and suddenly the world as you knew it... is gone. Forever.

"All that you held dear, all that you held close... is washed away in a sea of distant memory. Life... is cruel. Of this I have no doubt. But life continues on... with, or without you. One can only hope that one leaves behind a lasting legacy. But so often, the legacies we leave behind... are not the ones we intended."

The Locust growled in approval and Reyna walked over to her mother. "Good speech," Reyna said, her eyes still adjusting to the light of the surface. "But didn't we evacuate more Locust than this?"

Myrrah looked around and noticed her daughter was right. There were only a few hundred Locust present, and while hundreds of thousands had died in the Hollows, there were at least a few thousand that had been evacuated.

"You there," Myrrah said, pointing to a Drone. "Where are the others? There were thousands evacuated. Where are they?"

The Drone thought about the question and struggled to find the correct wording. He finally settled on the word, "Savage."

"Savage?" Myrrah questioned. "After all this, those fools decided to abandon us and go savage? After all we have been through? Pathetic!"

"Most of them have left my Queen," a Kantus told her in Locust tongue.

"So those fools believe that just because we lost our home, we have lost the war? We now have one less enemy to deal with now that the Lambent have fallen! The humans have lost their last safe haven. It won't be long until they destroy themselves. But, incase they don't, we need to get organized."

Myrrah then raised her voice so that everyone could hear her. "My loyal subjects," she said, her voice even and calm. "It has come to my attention that there are some Locust who believe that we are finished and have left to become savage. Rest assured we are not finished. The Lambent have hopefully perished for good, and the humans have destroyed their last safe haven. We are closer to winning than ever before.

"But, we cannot separate. Those that have left us will be viewed as traitors who have no right to join us again. But I now ask you something. How many of you are willing to die for me, and for your species? Step up if you are ready to fight."

Every single Locust in the crowd stepped forward and Myrrah nodded. "Excellent," she said. "You are now the Queen's Guard, and you will serve and obey to fight for a better future!"

The Locust, including Reyna, shouted in approval and pumped their fists to the sky. Myrrah then left the steps she was standing on and walked up to Reyna. "Come," she said, wrapping her arm around her daughter. "Let's find a place to stay."

* * *

Two years later, Reyna woke up and stretched her arms. The cot she was sleeping in was nowhere near as comfortable as her bed in the Hollows, but those days had long passed.

The Locust had been occupying the Endeavor for the past two years and had recently started taking boats out to look for more places to go.

Reyna walked out to the docks, looking around. There were a few Drones and two Kantus on the dock with her, but other than that, the dock was abandoned. Reyna walked up to one of the Kantus and asked, "Where's my mother?"

"Sea," the Kantus said in Tyran. He had a deep and gravelly voice that reminded Reyna of Skorge, making her sigh.

So many of the Locust she had known and grown up with had died recently and it made Reyna depressed. Most of them didn't even have names because of how many Drones there were. Only the higher ups, like Kantus' and most of the generals, were named.

As Reyna walked around the abandoned shipyard, she smelled the sea air and sighed. She missed the Hollows more than she thought possible, and the smell of this unfamiliar air didn't help.

Over the past two years, Reyna's skin had tanned significantly. When she was in the Hollows, she was as pale as paper due to never being out in the sun. She had gotten used to being outside and no longer flinched at the sun, but she still would have preferred staying underground in the dark.

She was nowhere near as frail as she had been down below. She had always been incredibly skinny due to growing up on a diet of worm meat and berries, and she hadn't gained that much weight since surfacing. But what she had gained was muscle.

Myrrah had thought that it would be important for Reyna to know how to fight for herself now that she was on the surface, and had a few Drones and Boomers teach her how to fight. Reyna even knew how to wield certain types of guns like a Hammerburst and a Boltok, but she didn't tell Myrrah that part. She had asked a few Drones for lessons when Myrrah wasn't around, against the Queen's wishes.

Reyna continued walking until she got to the station where the boats would dock and noticed that her mother's Tempest was missing. Myrrah often flew the Tempest when she wasn't on boats with her main forces, off searching for a different place for them to stay.

Reyna then heard a buzzing sound approaching the docks and looked up. She saw the Tempest flying in and smiled, knowing her mother was back.

The Tempest landed carefully on the dock, and Myrrah dismounted from it. She saw Reyna and said, "I believe we have found a new place. We must go. Hurry up and gather your belongings."

Reyna ran quickly back to the room she had been staying in and grabbed her bag full of clothes, which had gotten significantly lighter than it had been two years ago due to her outgrowing most of her older clothes.

She then ran back out to the docks and saw Myrrah talking with a group of Kantus. When Myrrah saw Reyna approaching, she waved the Kantus off and walked back towards the Tempest. "Come now Reyna," Myrrah said, mounting the Tempest and holding her arm out towards Reyna. "Let us go."

**I had a different idea for this chapter, but it got pushed back to the next chapter instead. The main reason for this chapter's existence is that I wanted to adhere somewhat to the **_**Gears of War **_**canon. According to the canon, Myrrah and her forces occupied Endeavor for quite some time until Marcus and the rest of Delta Squad decided to take over. The canon also states, at least according to Richard Prescott's last words, that the Locust had discovered Azura very recently, rather than what I believed. But if I continue talking, I might end up spoiling parts of the next chapter.**


	6. Azura

They continued to fly for hours until they were a few hundred klicks away from a giant storm. Myrrah guided the Tempest higher, and Reyna asked, "What about the storm?!"

"It's an artificial hurricane!" Myrrah shouted over the winds of the storm. "It surrounds the island to keep it hidden! We have already sent forces in to kill all the humans on the island! They were top researchers and geniuses who were hidden away during the war! How pathetic!"

Once the Tempest was above the storm, Myrrah guided it into the eye and carefully landed on a lush sandy beach. "You are to stay here," Myrrah said. "There are Locust on the perimeters, so you can't leave. There's also the hurricane to deal with. Take your bag and go into the hotel. You can stay in one of the rooms. This was a luxury resort at the time, so you should be set."

After Myrrah helped Reyna on to the ground, she kissed her daughter on the forehead. "I will be back later," she said, reaching her arms behind her neck.

Myrrah eventually removed a necklace from around her neck. The front had a very ornate design with several intersecting lines. Myrrah placed the necklace around Reyna's neck and said, "To keep you safe."

Reyna smiled at the necklace and then noticed the back. The back of the necklace had the Locust symbol carved in it, but it couldn't be seen unless the necklace was flipped over. "Thank you Mother," Reyna said.

Myrrah nodded and then mounted the Tempest again, flying away.

* * *

Once Reyna entered the hotel, she gasped as she set foot in the lobby. All around the lobby were human bodies, all covered in blood.

"They're all…" Reyna trailed off, not wanting to finish her sentence.

"Dead," a Drone next to her said in Tyran. Two Theron Guards then walked up to her and bowed their heads.

"Come," one of them said. They walked ahead of Reyna into a room that was slightly bigger than a closet. A voice was playing over an intercom, but Reyna could barely understand it because of how faded it was.

Reyna yelped in surprise when one of the Guards pushed a button and the room started to move. She had been on the transfer platforms in the Hollows before, but this experience was entirely new.

The room stopped moving after a minute and the doors opened. As Reyna stepped out of the room, the Theron Guards attempted to follow her before she put her hand in front of them. "I can find a room to stay in myself," she said.

The guards nodded and pushed a different button, taking them away.

Reyna walked down the long hallway, looking for a room that preferably didn't have blood on the walls or the bed. She couldn't find a room like that on the floor she was on, so she pushed the button to summon the moving room and take her to another floor.

She eventually went up to the top floor and found a decent sized room that was thankfully free of blood and didn't smell like dead corpses. The entire floor was actually completely vacant of human bodies, and for this Reyna was grateful.

Once she was unpacked, Reyna decided to explore the hotel a bit. She left her room and saw that there were Locust guards patrolling the hallways, but she paid them no mind.

She decided against taking the elevator to a different floor and decided to explore the floor she was currently on. The rooms were filled with human trinkets and devices that Reyna couldn't possibly dream of being able to use.

She saw strange shaped glass jars with strange smelling liquids held in strange holders. Reyna wished she knew just a bit more about human culture and what these items were, but Myrrah had forbidden it. Any questions about humans that Reyna had asked Myrrah would shrug them off or give an incomplete answer.

She went towards a room at the end of the hallway, but there were two drone guards standing outside of the door with Hammerbursts in their hands. "I would like to enter this room," she said to them in Locust tongue.

"Forbidden," one of the drones said, holding his Hammerburst out. Reyna knew he would never shoot her if he valued his life, so she continued forward, but the other drone grabbed her wrist.

"Leave," he said in Tyran. Reyna grumbled a bit but did as he said and left. She walked into the room next to the one she wanted to enter, and noticed the window. The Princess smiled before opening the window, knowing how to get into that room.


	7. Adam

Adam Fenix was in his lush hotel room on Azura, but he was anything but happy. For the past week, he had been held against his will by Locust forces to continue to work on his Imulsion countermeasure so that, rather than harming the Lambent and the Locust, the device would harm the Lambent and the _humans_.

Adam had some serious issues with making a device to destroy his own species, but it wasn't like he hadn't done it before. But this was so much worse. At least with the Hammer of Dawn, there was a slight chance that some people would live.

The device that the Locust had made him build was designed to completely destroy all traces of Imulsion on Sera, but that would mean killing the Locust too. So instead Adam was instructed to make the device able to destroy all human life on Sera along with all Lambent life.

Adam sighed as he continued to study the Imulsion cells he had managed to trap in a jar and looked closely at his hand. His hand had started to glow just a bit before the cells in his body countered the Imulsion cells he had injected and his hand stopped glowing.

Just as he started to focus again, there was a light tapping on his window that made Adam jump. There was no way that that was an animal, since the Locust had slaughtered all of the animals, and no bird could fly over the Maelstrom anyway.

He looked out of his window and saw a human girl around seventeen years old. This surprised him greatly as he rushed to open the window to let her in.

_A human?_ Reyna thought to herself. _How could there still be a human alive? Mother said they were all killed!_

"Hello?" the human man asked in Tyran.

"Hello," she said to him, attempting to be bold but just coming off as timid. "Who are you?"

"I could ask you the exact same thing," the human said.

"I asked you first," Reyna responded, getting irritated.

"My name is Adam Fenix. Who are you?"

Reyna's eyes widened slightly at this revelation. Myrrah had believed for several years that Adam Fenix had been killed at the assault on his mansion, but he had been hiding away all these years. Reyna then remembered the human in the Hollow, the one that Myrrah said was Adam's son.

"My name is Reyna," Reyna said, snapping out of her train of thought.

"Hello there Reyna," Adam said kindly. "How did you survive? I thought the Locust killed all of the humans except me."

"I managed to hide from them," Reyna lied. She wasn't sure if Adam knew that Myrrah had a daughter, but she didn't want to risk it.

"I never saw you around the island. Are you one of the scientists' children?"

"Um, yes! I am one of the children of the scientists!" Reyna had a hard time pronouncing that word, but she hoped that Adam didn't notice.

"Then why haven't I seen you around the island?"

Reyna could tell he was getting suspicious, so she quickly lied, "I didn't enjoy leaving our room often."

Adam looked at Reyna from head to toe suspiciously. Luckily, Reyna was just wearing a plain black shirt and a gray skirt. She had left her tiara in her room and she was still wearing her boots.

"Enough about me," Reyna said before he could keep asking questions. "What about you? Why did the Locust spare you? Why weren't you slaughtered like all of the others?"

"The Locust Queen, Myrrah, believes I can stop this whole Lambency thing once and for all. I have been injecting myself with Imulsion to study it over its life cycle."

"Isn't that incredibly dangerous?" Reyna interrupted, knowing what Imulsion could do. Myrrah had always warned her to stay far away from any trace of the substance in order to keep her safe.

"You sound like all of the other scientists," Adam said, smiling slightly. "They had flown out another man to do this, a prisoner from the Slab. He was supposed to be the test subject, but I couldn't stand the thought of doing that to another person."

Reyna became confused at some of these words. What was the Slab? What was a prison? She tried to make it look like she understood, but Adam could see right through her. "But if your device kills people, won't that kill you too?" she asked.

"That seems to be a risk Myrrah is willing to take. I guess I deserve it. I had known for years that the Locust would emerge if something wasn't done, but I never told anyone. I guess this is my punishment."

"But won't that kill Myrrah too? She's human also."

Adam looked at her suspiciously. "I never said that Myrrah was human," he told her.

"Um...I assumed she was human since she talked to you. Most Locust can't speak Tyran, right?"

"I'm not quite sure what her plan is on that. But, I need to keep working."

There was then a loud pounding on the door that made both Reyna and Adam jump. "Quiet!" One of the door guards yelled through the door.

The doorknob then started to shake and Adam looked at Reyna. "Hide," he told her. "If they see you, they'll kill you."

Reyna then ducked under Adam's desk and he spun his chair around so his legs covered what parts of her could be seen. The door then opened and Reyna had to keep from gasping as she saw Myrrah walk into the lab.

"Adam," she regarded coldly.

"Myrrah," Adam said with just as much venom in his voice.

"How are things going?" Myrrah asked. "Are you close to finishing?"

"You don't understand Myrrah. This device was made to destroy all forms of Imulsion, not specific cells. It's going to take me some time before I can figure out how change the calibrations."

"Then hurry it up. My troops have spotted your son recently, and it would be a shame if something happened to him."

"Don't you dare touch Marcus," Adam said, surprising Reyna. She had been told countless times by her mother that all humans had no sympathy towards each other, yet it seemed as though Adam cared for his son.

"If you so much as touch Marcus, I will use my service pistol," Adam said, patting his desk drawer. "I don't care if humanity dies because of it, but if Marcus is hurt, I will shoot myself."

Myrrah just looked at him with a sneer and said, "Hurry up or we'll shoot him. If we do kill him, you certainly won't know about it."

Myrrah then walked out of the room and Reyna moved away from the desk. "What was she talking about?" Reyna asked.

Adam sighed before making eye contact with the seventeen year old girl. "Myrrah has been threatening me for years. The only reason I'm even working on this thing is to keep him safe. Myrrah knows that if she so much as touches him, I will use the pistol in my desk to kill myself and this problem will never disappear."

"But won't your bomb still kill him? This is a waste of effort."

"I'm trying to figure out a way to just kill the Lament and leave the humans and Locust untouched, but I don't think that that's possible."

Reyna sighed and said, "I think I'm gonna head back into the room I was hiding in."

As Reyna moved towards the site, Adam said, "Wait."

Reyna turned towards him and he briefly smiled at her. "You were the first human I've talked to in months that hasn't threatened my life. Would you like to come by some other time and talk?"

Reyna thought about the offer before smiling. "Yeah, I think I will," she said, opening the window.

**This chapter was intended to be shorter, but I couldn't find a good stopping point, so I just rolled with it. **


	8. Lambency and Truth

Reyna continued to visit Adam for several weeks and managed to never be caught. When she wasn't talking with the scientist, however, she was exploring the hotel.

Reyna had never eaten such exotic foods in the Hollow, but the hotel had a wide array of foods for the scientists, and she took full advantage of it. She could have sworn she even gained a few pounds.

She also loved looking at the interesting things the humans were studying. When Adam wasn't busy, she would bring him things like journals and glass jars and ask him what they were. Adam was a surprisingly patient teacher and taught her things that these scientists are studying. Sometimes he would go off on long tangents about things Reyna didn't understand, but she never told him that and appeared to look fascinated.

One day, Reyna was eating breakfast in the main dining hall when she felt a rumbling beneath her feet. "What is that?!" she shouted over the noise of the shaking items.

"Down!" a Drone yelled to her, shoving her to the ground. As Reyna fell to the ground, a giant stalk surfaced from beneath her and started to shake.

The stalk then started releasing Lambent polyps and the Drones all ran in fear. Reyna ran with them, but tripped over her green skirt.

A Theron Guard saw her and picked her up, carrying her from the scene. A group of soldiers all grabbed Hammerbursts and Boltoks, but as Reyna reached to grab one, the Guard stopped her. "Hide," he said in Tyran, pointing back towards the hotel rooms.

Reyna rolled her eyes as she ran away from the fight and back towards her hotel room. As she was running, she thought of Adam and ran to his door. The normal guards weren't there, and Reyna assumed they were fighting the Lambent stalks and Polyps.

She burst into Adam's room and he jumped as the door opened. "Reyna!" he exclaimed, shocked to see her coming through the door rather than a window. "What's going on?"

"The Lambent have breached the island!" Reyna exclaimed. "We need to hide!"

"I feared this would happen," Adam said, sighing. "But the cure is almost complete. But there's still the Locust variable I need to account for."

"Are you insane?!" Reyna exclaimed. "We need to hide!"

"If I don't find the cure soon, we're going to die anyways. The Lambent creatures will expose you and me to more Imulsion and we'll become just like them."

Reyna then noticed something and then gasped. "What's wrong with your hand?" she asked, not attempting to hide how scared she was.

Adam looked at his more glowing hand and sighed. "I injected myself with Imulsion cells, remember? It should fade away shortly."

Just as he said that, his hand stopped glowing and the ground beneath them shook once again. "We need to leave now!" Reyna exclaimed, clutching a table for support.

Adam looked at her and said, "I'm sorry Reyna. My work matters to me more. Get back into hiding. Save yourself."

"You idiot, I'm not in hiding! The Locust are my family!"

Reyna covered her mouth once she said this, and Adam's eyes widened. "What did you say?" Adam asked, not wanting to believe the words.

Reyna sighed and looked the scientist in the eyes. "Look, I haven't been completely honest with you," Reyna said. "The truth is, I'm not quite a human exactly. I grew up in the Hollows, raised by Locust and my mother."

"Who's your mother?" Adam asked, fearing he already knew the answer.

"My mother is Queen Myrrah," Reyna said, her voice hesitant to reveal this information.

Adam stared at her, wide eyed, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Myrrah reproduced with a human?" he asked, barely able to get his words together.

Reyna nodded her head and Adam immediately asked, "Who is your father?"

"I don't know. My mother never revealed anything about my father ever, and I never found anything about him."

Adam went completely silent and stood there, staring at Reyna. "You lied to me," he said.

"Adam, I didn't mean it like that!"

"You lied to be this entire time!" Adam had started raising his voice at her, something she had never heard from the soft spoken scientist.

"Adam, please listen!"

"I thought that somebody else had survived the slaughter on Azura! I thought I wasn't alone anymore! But I am! I'm the only true human left on this island."

"Adam!" Reyna yelled, frustrated beyond belief. She swore a bit to herself in Locust before looking at him again. "You are not the only human left on Azura! I am still human, and I am still here for you."

"But you aren't human! Tell me, who do you want to win this war? The humans, or the Locust?"

Reyna was at a loss for words yet again. Before, she could easily say that she wanted the humans all dead, but Adam had changed her views. He was the first person to ever make her question Myrrah. If all humans were evil, why was this man so kind to her?

"I don't know," Reyna finally answered. "But it's not that simple! I grew up with the Locust! They're my family!"

"But you still aren't one of them! You are a human, yet you side with the species you committed genocide on your race."

"What are you talking about?! The humans forced us to attack!"

Adam back stepped away from Reyna a bit, as if he didn't quite understand her. "Say that again?" he asked.

"The humans forced us to attack them! They were trying to kill us with Imulsion! We were forced to fight back!"

"Are those the lies that Myrrah fed you?"

"What are you talking about?!"

"We didn't force them to attack! I tried to reason with Myrrah, but she was too impatient! I told her I just needed a bit more time, but she refused to see reason! She told them to attack us. The other humans didn't even know about the Locust! I was the only one who knew about their existence before Emergence Day."

Reyna's eyes filled with tears, not wanting to believe what was said to her. There was no way that her mother had lied to her about everything, was there? "You're lying to me!" Reyna said, her words muffled by her angry sobs. "You're lying!"

She then ran out of the hotel room, slamming the door behind her.


	9. Lies

**Gears 5 is now officially out for early access! And, as a result, most of this story and what I have written may be proven wrong. Despite this, I intend to finish the story with everything I already have written, no matter how wrong I am. Hope you all enjoy the rest of the story!**

Reyna ran into her hotel room and slammed the door shut, sobbing into her pillow. As she sobbed, there was a soft knock on the door. "Go away!" she shouted, not wanting to see anybody.

Whoever was outside the door ignored her and walked in. Reyna sniffled and looked over at the door and was surprised to see Myrrah standing next to the bed. "Come on now," Myrrah said. "You are no longer an infant. Stop this crying."

Reyna looked at her mother as the memories of the things Adam said to her came flooding back. She sobbed even harder, hugging Myrrah and sobbing into her battle armor. Myrrah looked incredibly uncomfortable with the whole situation, but nevertheless attempted to somewhat comfort her daughter.

Myrrah stroked Reyna's hair and made light shushing sounds. "Tell me why you are crying," Myrrah said, attempting and failing to sound comforting.

Reyna looked up at her mother and asked, "Have you ever lied to me?"

Myrrah was taken aback sightly by the question and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Did you ever lie to me about the humans? Did they really force us into the war?"

"Why do you ask that?"

Reyna sighed and looked at her window. "I know about the human here. I know about Adam."

"That traitor!" Myrrah took a deep breath to calm herself. "What exactly did he tell you?"

"He said that the humans didn't even know about us until Emergence Day. They didn't mean to poison us. He asked you for a bit more time, but you were too impatient."

"Because our people were dying! Do you not understand Reyna?! I did what I had to in order to ensure the safety of our subjects!"

"By sending us into a war where we have lost thousands, if not millions?!"

"I did what a Queen does! You can't possibly understand what it is like to rule! You are just a child!"

"But you still lied to me! You said that the humans forced us into the war! They didn't even know we existed! Why did you lie to me all that time?!"

"In order to keep you safe!" Seeing the look of anger on the Princess' face, Myrrah attempted to explain herself. "If you had known the truth, would you have still stayed with us?"

"But you still lied to me! I don't even know you anymore! You won't even tell me who my father is!"

Myrrah back stepped a bit and stared at her daughter. "Why on Sera would you bring that up now?!" Myrrah yelled.

"Because it's the truth! Or did you forget what that was?"

Myrrah was shocked at the boldness her daughter had just showed. Seething with rage, Myrrah approached the bed and made Reyna shuffle back quickly. "You listen to me," Myrrah said, almost screaming. "I am not only your mother, I am your Queen! That means you listen to me! You do not question me! If you even think about defying me ever again, you will face the consequences! Am I clear?!"

"If you were such a good Queen, you would have stopped your subjects from going into a war that will end with a genocide of an entire race! You don't even care about the countless number of soldiers we lost, do you?! They are my friends, my family, and you just sent them off to their deaths! What kind of leader are you?!"

Myrrah then walked up to Reyna and, still seething, grabbed her by the shoulders. "You are a Princess!" Myrrah yelled. "It is time you acted like it!"

She then slapped Reyna across the face. Reyna managed to escape her mother's grasp. She sobbed a bit, grasping her face and Myrrah realized what she just did. "Reyna," Myrrah said, reaching out towards her daughter.

Reyna scooted away, tears in her eyes. "Get away from me!" she yelled. "Get away!"

She then jumped off of the bed and ran out of the room, dodging Myrrah. The door slammed behind her and Myrrah stared at it, for the first time in her life feeling guilty.


	10. Loss

Reyna ran down the hallway, tears in her eyes. She wasn't sure where she wanted to go, but she wanted to get away from there. She ran outside, despite several Locust attempting to stop her due to the stalks and Polyps. She ran out into the garden in the back that the botanists loved so much. As Reyna sat in the garden, crying by herself, she realized something. Reyna walked out of the garden and couldn't believe her eyes.

The skies were clear and beautiful and beautifully blue. The Maelstrom had been turned off.

Reyna panicked, confused by what was happening and ran up to a Drone. "You there," she said, attempting to clear her voice of the sobs she was suppressing. "Where is the storm?"

The soldier growled at her in Tyran, "Humans."

He then ran off to join his brothers in their fight and Reyna ran around to the back of the hotel. She ran in the back entrance and up the stairs to the top floor. The guards were still posted at the door to Adam's room and there were even more of them scattered over the whole floor, as if ready to attack. "Let me in now!" Reyna yelled at the Locust.

He grabbed her by her skinny arms and carried her away and into the hallway and growled at her, "Stay."

Reyna yelled in frustration as she sprinted back to her room. She climbed out the window and flinched at the deafening sound of helicopters overhead.

Reyna looked out into the horizon and saw black helicopters flying to the island (she knew about helicopters thanks to Adam). Reyna quickly climbed over to Adam's room and saw the window was opened as it had been for several weeks.

As she was about to climb in, she stopped when she heard a voice besides Adam's. She quickly ducked out of sight and attempted to listen in on the conversation, which was not easy due to the noise of the helicopters. "How dare you tell her those things!" Myrrah yelled from the room. "Thanks to you, I don't even know where my daughter is! You told her everything I said to her were lies!"

"Because they were!" Adam yelled back. "I didn't know she was your child, Myrrah. If I did, I might have kept your secrets for you. But you never even said you had a child, let alone that she was here. Your secrets have ultimately become the death of you Myrrah."

"If you continue to help your son in any way, I will not hesitate to have my forces destroy him and his little friends."

"You stay away from Marcus!"

"Continue on your project and I won't even dream of it. But, if you help in any way, shape or form, I will personally kill all of them."

Reyna then heard shoes clacking on tile and the door close. She then jumped into the room and Adam exclaimed, "Reyna!"

"Adam, there are humans coming. The Maelstrom is down and there are helicopters circling us! We need to hurry!"

"Reyna, I helped to deactivate the Maelstrom. Come with me. The soldiers are going to save me and help me activate my machine."

"But you said it wasn't done. You said that it will still kill the Locust."

"Yes it will. But think of it this way. Myrrah lied to you your whole life. Do you really want to side with her?"

"It's not that easy Adam," Reyna said, trying to keep a rational voice. "My mother might have lied to me my whole life, but she is still my mother, and they are still my family. Isn't there any other way that we can stop the Lambent?"

"I've run out of time Reyna. If I only had more time. I'm sorry."

There was a crackle from one of Adam's radios and they both moved towards it. Reyna recognized the voice on the device as one of the humans that had been in the Hollow shortly before it flooded, the gravelly one. "_Dad, we're here!"_ he said. "_We're just trying to work out how to bypass this firefight."_

The sound of gunshots could be heard from outside and Adam smiled slightly. "I can hear it Marcus," Adam said to the radio. "And Myrrah's tracking you. Watch your back."

"_Yeah she's been on our asses the whole way. Standby!_"

The radio then crackled off but the gunfire could still be heard. "Reyna, you need to make a choice," Adam said calmly. "Us or them. You need to choose before it's too late."

"I don't know," Reyna said quietly as more gunfire went off. "I'm sorry."

There was then another crackle from the radio but Adam pushed the device in his ear so Reyna couldn't hear it. "It will work. Don't worry. And trust me Corporal Baird-I've tested it.

Adam went quiet for a minute before saying, "On the top floor. Watch out for Queen Myrrah, Marcus-she's desperate."

"Please don't tell him everything Adam," Reyna said, begging.

Adam sighed and turned on his radio again. "This is a last stand for the Locust too, Marcus. My device will kill the Imulsion-but it'll harm the Locust, too."

Adam sighed and said, "I needed more time. Just like E-Day."

Reyna went silent as well, knowing what Adam went through on Emergence Day.

Reyna turned to run out of the room but froze when she heard more gunfire even closer. There was a fight happening right outside Adam's door.

Reyna was about to hop out the window when she heard the gunfire stop. The door knob jiggled a bit and Reyna, with no other option, ducked under Adam's desk. Adam quickly moved so his legs hid the Locust Princess as the door opened.

"Marcus...Anya," he said, a joy in his voice Reyna had never heard.

She looked at the humans and gasped. They were the humans she had seen in the Hollows, except the sad looking light brown skinned man was nowhere to be seen. Instead there was a cream skinned woman with short cropped blonde hair.

"It's good to see you again. I thought I never would. I'm...so sorry about Dom."

"Hard to know where to begin Dad," the gravelly voiced man said. Reyna then realized that this man was Marcus, Adam's son.

"Yes, I always wondered what I'd say if I ever saw you again, but...we always run out of time."

Adam then grabbed something off of his desk, a trinket that Reyna had never seen. "Just my insurance," he said to Marcus. "It won't work without command keys. The same failsafe I designed into the Hammer of Dawn. I'm an old hand at mass destruction, aren't I?"

Adam moved away from the desk and Reyna shifted a bit to see what he was doing. She saw him punching something into his monitor before he turned to face the group of humans. "I've had years to think things over,Marcus," he said, hope in his voice that Reyna had never heard. "You and Anya-all of you-live your lives to the fullest when this is over. Promise me you'll all do that. No regrets. No looking back."

As Adam moved to a different monitor, Marcus said, not really listening to his father, "Yeah, sure Dad. We better get going."

"If the Imulsion hadn't reached a critical stage, I might have found a way to save the Locust as well, and they could have gone back underground."

"Tell me you don't feel sorry for them."

"Responsible, not sorry," Adam replied. Reyna listened very carefully, hoping to hear words that would assure her faith in the professor. "It's my fault they're here, Marcus. I failed to stop the Imulsion spreading all those years ago. It drove the Locust out of their warrens. I tried to persuade Myrrah to keep her people underground, but they couldn't, so then-"

"Wait, wait, wait,-did I hear right?" the blonde interrupted, making Reyna groan slightly. Humans always had a way of interrupting important things, and Reyna cared much more about what Adam had to say than this useless pile of flesh. "The government knew E-Day was coming? And none of you bothered to warn us?"

"No, just me," Adam said, and Reyna realized something. Her mother wasn't the only one who kept important secrets from everybody. Adam kept secrets for Myrrah at the risk of his entire species. But the question was, why? "Even Prescott didn't know until much later. I had so many ideas...just too little time."

"Dad, stop this," Marcus said bluntly, a hint of guilt ringing in his voice. "Come on."

"Whoa," the blonde interrupted yet again. "What else don't we know?"

"You're a scientific man," Adam told the blonde, and Reyna scoffed quietly. There was no way on Sera that this blonde imbecile practiced the same studies as the brilliant mind of Adam Fenix, who had struggled so hard to save both races, was there? "Look at this later and try to understand what I wanted to do and what I had to do."

Adam then handed the blonde something, a disk that Reyna had never seen before.

"Yo," the man from the speakers said. "Less talking, more walking."

He then gestured to outside the room, where the noise of humans fighting Locust and Locust fighting Lambent could be heard. They all looked at each other before running out of the room, leaving Reyna alone.

She waited until she couldn't hear the clatter of the loud metal boots the humans were wearing and got up from under the desk. She thought about the conversation she had just heard and didn't want to believe a word of it. Those humans _still _believed they were in the right, even after Adam attempted to explain what had happened to cause the war.

Reyna would never understand humans. Now even Adam had given up on the Locust and was prepared to start up the machine that would not only kill the Locust and Lambent, but him as well. He had told Reyna that there would be no way he could survive the anti-Imulsion bomb he had built, but he was willing to sacrifice himself to save, not his planet, but his son.

Reyna realized then that she had to stop Adam. There was no way that one human, let alone a common soldier, was worth all this effort. Did Adam honestly believe his son was worth sacrificing a whole species and his own life? Because that was what he intended. He intended to sacrifice everything just to ensure his son was safe.

As Reyna ran up the back stairs and eventually towards the roof when she heard the sound of a machine starting up. Reyna reached for the latch to open the door when there was a loud sound of destruction followed by a buzzing sound. Reyna gathered that Myrrah had flown the Tempest through the floors to the top and flinched as she heard the Tempest scorch something, presumably a helicopter. She heard yelling as the helicopter crashed to the ground.

Reyna ignored it all and finally opened the door, not caring if she was seen. She ran past the fight and to where Adam was working his machine. "Adam, please don't do this!" she shouted over the noise of the battle.

"Reyna!" Adam exclaimed, turning off his mic for a brief moment. "I thought you were still in my room! You need to hide!"

"Not if it means you do this! Please! You won't survive that bomb! You know that! You're going to kill an entire species and yourself just to save your son! Please, see reason!"

"Reyna, I've thought of it all. I'll be fine. Trust me. You're going to grow up to be a fine woman someday, Reyna. I promise. Now go. Live. My time is almost done."

"NO!" Reyna screamed as she ran for the controls. Adam grabbed her by her arms and picked her up, kicking and thrashing.

"I'm doing this for your own good Reyna!" he exclaimed, opening a secret latch with his foot. He dropped Reyna in it carefully and closed it, putting a large crate over it.

Reyna could still hear the sounds of the battle from her spot and banged on the door repeatedly. "Adam!" she yelled, knowing the scientist could hear her. "Let me out! Let me out this instant!"

She continued to yell and pound on the door for several minutes before she realized her efforts were useless. She started to bang her shoulder against the door, hoping her weight would make the door open. She did this quite a few times before a sudden purple shock wave went through her body.

Reyna gasped at the feeling of the shock wave and knew she was too late. More shock waves continued through her body but the Princess kept thrashing against the door, sobbing as she did so. She hoped desperately that Adam would be alright, along with the Locust and her mother, but she knew that was wishful thinking.

Reyna finally succeeded in breaking out of the secret room and ran out onto the gasped at the sight before her.

In front of Reyna was a pile of dust and a lab coat which she knew to be Adam Fenix's remains, along with the body of Queen Myrrah surrounded by a pool of blood.

**Sorry I haven't said anything here in a while, but there was nothing to say until now. These last three chapters had to have some serious considerations to then, and I actually rewrote the last chapter twice because I didn't like what I wrote. I knew from the beginning that I wanted to have Reyna eventually question her mother, but when she did, I didn't want it to sound like she had nothing to argue against, which is part of the reason Adam is here. Adam is meant to be the means for which Reyna learns about human life, and as a result, starts to question Myrrah. I think this part turned out very nicely, and I hope you think so too.**


	11. Crystals

Reyna looked down at Myrrah's dead body and at the pile of dust that was now Adam Fenix and sobbed. She fell to her knees and sobbed until she felt there was nothing left in her, and then continued to sob some more.

Reyna was sobbing so hard she didn't hear the boots on the ground behind her. "Hello there," a soft feminine voice said.

Reyna turned around and saw the blonde haired woman from Adam's room. "What are you doing up here?" she asked.

Reyna sniffled a bit and said, her voice still shaking, "I lost my mother."

"I'm so sorry Sweetheart. Did she work here?"

"You could say that." It wasn't a complete lie, it just wasn't the whole truth. Reyna now knew some of her mother's reasonings for them.

"I'm sorry Honey," the blonde woman said, putting an arm around Reyna. Reyna shoved her away and stood up, legs shaking.

"I know how you feel," the blonde said, walking towards Reyna. "I lost my mother in the other war. So many people died. But look on the bright side. The war is over! We finally won!"

Reyna considered the woman's words and sighed. The humans had won the war, but she wasn't sure if she was happy for them. For the longest time, the Locust were her people, and she wanted to see every human destroyed.

But then she met Adam. Adam had told her that the humans were as much of the victims as the Locust were. He opened her eyes.

"I'm Anya," the woman said, snapping Reyna away from her thoughts. "What's your name?"

"Reyna," Reyna said without thinking.

"What a pretty name. Where did you get your pretty skirt?"

Reyna looked at her green skirt with the swirling designs and said, "I took it before my home was gone." Reyna watched her wording carefully, not giving too much information but still not lying completely.

"Come on now," Anya said, holding out her hand. "Let's go into the hotel."

Reyna looked at Myrrah's body and, sighing, walked into the hotel with Anya.

* * *

The next day, Reyna woke up in a different bedroom than the one she had been used to. She had moved rooms due to hers being torn apart by a stalk.

She walked downstairs into the dining area and saw massive groups of humans, all in armor. They weren't wearing the giant bulky armor that she had seen in the Hollows, but rather the basic armor that mostly just covered their chests.

Reyna grabbed some food and, feeling depressed at the fact her entire family had just been killed, sat by herself.

As she ate, the group of soldiers she had seen in Adam's room stared at her. She could see that they were talking amongst themselves. One of them, the biggest dark skinned man, got up from the table and grabbed his food.

Reyna saw he was walking over to her, and she immediately pretended not to notice. He sat down across from her and asked, "What's going on Sweetheart?"

Reyna immediately recognized his voice as the one who was on the speakers in the Hollow. She ignored him and continued picking at her eggs. She still wasn't completely used to the taste of eggs and preferred to just eat bowls of berries, but the soldiers who were serving the food insisted she ate more.

"Not a talker, huh?" the man asked. "Shit, I get it. A lot of shit happened, huh? But, hey, we finally won! The goddamn war is finally over! Whoo!"

Reyna jumped at the man's loud 'Whoo!' and he laughed at her. "My name's Cole by the way," the man, now named Cole, said to Reyna. "But I'm sure you know me from watching Thrashball back in the day, huh?"

Reyna looked confused by his words. Apparently, this basic soldier had once been someone famous, so why wasn't he leading them? He seemed to be happy where he was, but he was much more massive and looked much more strong than the others. "You never saw me play?" Cole asked.

Reyna shook her head no, and Cole asked, "How old are you anyway?"

"Seventeen," Reyna said quietly.

"It speaks!" Cole teased lightly. "Aw, shit, I'm just messing with you Baby. But damn, if your only seventeen, no wonder you never saw me play. You must have just been a baby when those scaly assed grubs came up to greet us, huh?"

Reyna nodded her head yes and Cole asked, "How did you get here anyways? Only about a hundred Gears and the Gorasni came here. Were you a scientist's daughter?"

Reyna nodded her head and Cole asked, "Well, I'm sorry to hear that. The grubs killed all of them brilliant minds. But how did you escape?"

"I hid," Reyna said, lying through her teeth.

"Well you must have done a damn good job seeing how you're still here. Sorry your parents were killed."

_She was killed alright_, Reyna thought to herself. _But not by the Locust_.

"What's your name Baby?"

"Reyna," the former princess said quietly.

"Well hello there Reyna. If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask. Now I gotta go start helping clean up. I'll see you around."

Reyna watched as Cole got up and went back to his other table. Reyna sighed and, not feeling hungry, dumped the rest of her food in a trash can and went outside, wanting to clear her head.

* * *

Reyna eventually wandered into the garden and sat on the bench, sighing. She felt the urge to cry but couldn't bring herself to. She knew she should be sobbing her eyes out. Her mother had died, and the last thing they did together was fight. Adam was dead as well. The man who had showed her human ways, and opened her eyes, was gone. Every single Locust she had ever seen, grown up with, commanded, were now dead. Her entire life was now gone.

So why couldn't she bring herself to cry?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of boots on gravel. Another soldier, a female with short brown hair, walked into the garden and sat down next to her. "Hey there love," she said. "Why aren't you with the others?"

"Others?" Reyna asked.

"The other civvies in Anvil Gate. How come you're not with them?"

"I lived here," Reyna said, still not outright lying.

"That must mean you lost your parents, huh?"

Reyna nodded and the woman sighed. "So many people were lost in this damn war," the woman said gazing out in the distance. "My dad was killed in the last war, and my mum died just after this one started. I'm sorry about your family love."

Reyna turned away, not wanting to talk, but the woman continued anyways. "My dad actually died before I was born. He never got to see me. My mum named me after him. My name's Sam, by the way. Samantha Byrne. What's yours?"

Reyna had seen Sam at the same table as Cole and Anya and knew that she already knew her name, but told her anyways. "Reyna," the former princess said.

"What a beautiful name! Why don't you come with me? A group of us have been talking about getting back to the mainland, and I'll make sure you're one of the first there."

Sam got up and held her hand out to Reyna, who hesitantly grabbed it. They then both walked back to the hotel.

* * *

Reyna walked around the hotel a bit later, wandering aimlessly. She was on the second floor when she heard a shout from the lobby. She ran down, along with a mass of Gears and stood amidst the crowd.

She managed to shove her way to the front and got a good look at who caused the commotion. There was a group of soldiers gathered consisting of Anya, Sam, Marcus, Cole, and the blonde with the goggles.

"What the hell happened?" Reyna heard a Gear from the middle of the crowd ask.

"I don't friggin know," the blonde said. "I was just going to look at some Locust bodies and I saw this shit."

He then moved aside and the whole crowd, Reyna included, gasped. Rather than reveal a Locust body, the blonde revealed a giant shell made out of crystals. "And this isn't the only one," he informed them. "These things have been coming from all over the island. All of the Locust bodies, minus the queen since she's human, are covered in this crystal shit."

The crowd murmured amongst themselves, confused as to what was happening. "That must mean they're dead for good!" someone near the back shouted.

"Yeah, their bodies are gone!" a woman shouted near Reyna.

"While we shouldn't assume that everything is okay, it does appear that the Locust, at least for now, are neutralized," Anya said in her calming voice.

Reyna then remembered words taught to her by Adam Fenix. She had sat there and listened, curious as to what the scientist had to say.

* * *

"_Crystallization," Adam said to Reyna. "It's a last minute preservation method by some species. It happens when a creature is forced to shut down, and in a last effort to preserve it, the body encases itself in a hard crystal. Mostly common in creatures that were affected by Imulsion. For example…"_

_Adam then pulled something out of his drawer for Reyna to look at. It was a hard piece of crystal slightly bigger than his fist. "This was originally a Lambent mouse," he said. "It wasn't completely Lambent, otherwise it would have exploded. It was something in between, similar to the Locust. Once it died due to my tests of the anti Lambency bomb, this happened._

"_If I can't figure out how to save the Locust entirely, I will at least be buying them some time. I don't know how long they will be here though. Eventually, though, this mouse will emerge from the crystals, stronger and more adapted. The same will happen to the Locust."_

* * *

So Adam had been right. The Locust weren't truly gone, but rather evolving into something bigger, something greater. And Reyna was ready for it.

**I am fully aware that my explanation on the crystallizing of the Locust is a little strange, but I honestly had absolutely no idea how to explain it. I'm not exactly a scientist. But I do think that I got my explanation somewhat right, that while encased in crystal, the Locust evolved into something much more threatening than they were before, such as being able to convert humans into something similar to them. I'm not quite sure how the Snatchers or Carriers came into play, but I'm going to leave that up to The Coalition to explain.**


	12. Civilization

Several months later, Reyna woke up in her new residence. She refused to call it home, because her home would always be the Hollows where she grew up.

Reyna was no longer in the hotel on Azura, but rather a new COG city, named New Ephyra. The city wasn't much yet, but the invention of the DeeBees had helped the process significantly. The DeeBees were designed to assist in manual labor in order to lower the risk of endangering humans.

Reyna personally found the robots a bit creepy, but who was she to judge? She was the person who believed the Locust were in the right and should be here instead of the humans, and therefore had no right to say what counted as creepy or not.

She got out of her small apartment that the COG had provided and walked around the small city. Since money had all but ceased to exist during the Locust war, the main focus of the COG was to make sure everybody was provided for.

Reyna walked around and ducked behind a corner when she saw a group of Gears. She still wasn't completely used to the sight of soldiers like them, and especially wasn't comfortable around them. They were still, after all, the reason she no longer had a family.

She had hoped that none of them saw her and asked why she was out so early in the morning since the sun had barely even risen. Her hopes were shattered when she heard the clanking of metal boots on tile as a Gear approached her.

"Hello there," a male voice said, rounding the corner. Reyna looked at the soldier and gasped. He was much younger than any other soldier she had seen, looking to be around her age. He was in the full Gears armor minus the helmet and he stared at her.

He shook his head, seemingly breaking whatever thoughts he had and looked at Reyna. "What are you doing out so early?" he asked her. "The sun hasn't even been up for an hour."

Reyna looked at the man, lost for words. She swore she could hear her heart beating faster and louder than she had ever felt it and hoped he couldn't hear it as well. "Uh…" Reyna said, struggling to find words. "I needed some fresh air."

"Well you still shouldn't be out so early. I think I'm gonna have to write you up."

"Wait, don't," Reyna said as he handed her a piece of paper. She read the paper and smiled at it. _What's your name?_

"Reyna," she said shyly. She looked at the soldier's armor and saw the name _Diaz_ on it. "What about you? Is Diaz your first name?"

"No, it's not," he said, laughing.

"Well than what is it?"

"You can call me Diaz if you want."

Reyna laughed a bit, something she hadn't done since the Locust and her mother were all killed. "Alright, Diaz," she did, smiling.

"You better head back inside. I'll walk you back to the living quarters of you want."

"Yeah, I'd like that."

They then walked towards the living quarters, with the soldier telling Reyna about life in the army.

"I'm not the biggest fan of violence," he explained to her. "But during war times, you do what you have to do. My older brother enlisted the second he turned eighteen, and he told me to do the same. I've only been in the army for about three years, so I got to see the sinking of Jacinto, and the fall of Vectes. I was part of the group that followed Hoffman to Anvil Gate."

Reyna smiled and nodded, barely knowing anything about the locations he had said. She obviously knew about Jacinto, seeing how it was now a crater that filled her home with sea water. But she had no clue what Vectes or Anvil Gate were. "What about you?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Reyna asked.

"Well, I've told you most of my life story. But I barely know anything about you besides your name."

"Well, I'm seventeen."

"How come I've never seen you with the other civvies?"

"Probably because I never lived with you guys."

"You were Stranded?"

"No," Reyna said, not completely sure what Stranded were. From what she gathered, they were people who refused to join the COG. If they were down in the Hollows, Myrrah would have had anybody who disobeyed her executed.

"Then where did you live?"

"I lived on Azura. My mother lived there too. She was killed."

"I'm sorry. God, so many people were lost in that awful war. But wait, how did you live? I thought the Locust killed everyone."

"I managed to hide from them until you guys came," Reyna said, feeling it more like a mantra now.

"At least you lived. Well, here we are."

The soldier spoke the truth and they were on the front steps of the living quarters. "This was nice," he said. "We should talk again sometime. How about tonight at the dining rooms?"

"That sounds nice," Reyna said, smiling as she turned to enter the living quarters.

* * *

That night, Reyna dressed in some of her somewhat formal attire, a blue skirt and white shirt. Her hair was in its normal braid with the golden spike through the middle of it. She wore Myrrah's necklace as well, something that had never left her neck since the day it was given to her.

She walked down through the halls and towards the exit. Waiting for her was the soldier, minus his armor. It looked as though he had had to wear his helmet recently and quickly brushed his black hair, for there were still strands sticking up at odd ends. He smiled at her and remarked, "You look nice."

"So do you," Reyna said. "You look good out of armor."

"Thanks. Shall we get going?"

He held out her hand to her and Reyna grabbed it, smiling at him. If someone had told her in the past that she would have feelings for another human, she would have called them crazy. But this human made her feel safe and protected and happy.

And Reyna would be sure not to let this go.


	13. Life Together

For the next several months, Reyna enjoyed the company of the soldier. They always met the second he was off duty and stayed together through the night, but they kept it at cuddling and nothing more.

That night, Reyna's 18th birthday, she was determined to make something more happen. She had read up on basic human biology and learned a bit from Myrrah and watching the Drones with the Berserkers, but this would be a completely new experience for her.

That night, Reyna was putting the final touches on her hair when there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Reyna said. She had never gotten into the habit of locking her door, since the Locust always knew better than to intrude on the Princess.

The door opened and Reyna smiled at the person standing there. "Hey Diaz," she said, taking the flowers in his hand and placing them in a vase.

He kissed her on the cheek and said, "How's the birthday girl?" he asked, kissing her again.

Reyna laughed a bit before saying, "I'm glad you remembered."

"How could I forget? Are you ready to go? I have a special evening planned for us."

"Let's go."

* * *

After the birthday celebrations that Diaz had planned for Reyna, she lead him up to her room. "Thank you for tonight," she said as he kissed her on the cheek. "It was amazing."

"No problem. I better head back now."

"No, wait! Can you stay tonight? Just for a bit?"

"Sure. Just like always?"

"Not exactly. It is my birthday. Do you want to make it special?"

The soldier's eyes widened a bit and he said, "Only if you're alright with it."

Reyna smiled and pulled him onto the bed, kissing him passionately on the lips as he fell over. "I am," she said as she kissed him again.

* * *

The next day, Reyna woke up and smiled at her bed partner. Neither of them were wearing any clothes but were both covered up by a thin blanket. The soldier was still sleeping, muttering as he did so.

Reyna felt his arm around her waist and carefully tried to disentangle herself from him without walking him up.

Once the former princess succeeded, she quickly grabbed some clothes from her closet and darted into her bathroom.

Once she was dressed, she opened the door and noticed that the soldier was sitting up in her bed. "Hi," he said, still covering himself with the blanket.

"Hi," Reyna said, smiling as she bent down on the ground and tossing him his pants. He smiled at her and Reyna said, "Last night was amazing. Thank you."

"No problem. Last night was great for me too."

"Not bad for my first time."

The soldier's eyes widened and he asked, "That was your first time?"

Reyna nodded slowly, regretting saying anything. "Don't worry about it," he told her. "I'm glad I was your first."

"For what it's worth, I'm glad you were too."

He then looked at the clock and gasped. "Is that clock right?"

"I think so. Why?"

"I got to get to work!" He quickly pulled his pants on and grabbed his shirt. He kissed Reyna on the cheek and said, "Sorry I can't stay long. I'll see you after work."

He then darted out of the room, Reyna smiling as he did so. She then proceeded to gather the linens that had fallen off the bed throughout the night.

* * *

A few weeks later, Reyna smiled as the door to her bedroom was knocked on. She always insisted he didn't have to knock, but he always did anyways.

She opened the door and smiled as the soldier pulled her in for a kiss. "I've got the whole day off," he told her. "What do you want to do?"

"I'm not sure," Reyna responded. "I've never met your family. Can we go see them?"

"It's actually just me and my brother. My dad died in combat and my mom was killed on E-Day. But we can go see Oscar if you want. He actually has the day off too."

"Great! Let's go…" Reyna trailed off as she felt something stirring in her stomach. "Be right back."

She then ran to the bathroom and proceeded to empty her stomach. "Reyna?!" the soldier shouted through the door. "Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine!" Reyna shouted back before leaning over the toilet yet again.

The soldier opened the door and held Reyna's hair back as she threw up some more. "I think you should go see a doctor," he told her, patting her on the back gently. "We can visit my brother some other time. Come on. I'll walk you to the doctor's office."

Reyna nodded to him before leaning over the toilet yet again, ready to completely empty her stomach.

* * *

Reyna sat in a doctor's office a few hours later, leg bouncing in anticipation. The back door then opened and Reyna's doctor, an old woman with white hair tied in a bun. The doctor looked at her notes and then up at Reyna, not changing her expression one bit.

"Well Miss Reyna," the doctor said, looking back at her chart. "I have never seen you before, and that is horrible. I'm sure that on Azura you had all the best medical care, but according to this you've been malnourished for most of your life and have also had indecent exposure to sunlight. It looks as though you never once went outside for years."

"Is that why I'm sick?" Reyna asked.

"Don't interrupt. But no, that's not the entire reason. According to my tests, you're expecting."

"Expecting what?"

The doctor sighed and looked Reyna straight in the eyes. "Miss Reyna, you are pregnant. You're only two weeks along, and your baby will be due in early Frost."

Reyna opened her mouth in shock, not believing what the doctor said to her. "I'm pregnant?!" Reyna exclaimed. "That's impossible!"

"Apparently not. Do you remember ever having unprotected sex?"

"Not really, unless...My birthday!"

"Well there you go. This must be shocking news for you, but please sit down. There are some things we need to discuss."

Reyna sat down and the doctor sat down across from her. "Now, normally we ask this of people who are expecting to be parents, but since you're barely pregnant, there are still ways of doing this."

"Doing what exactly?"

"Have you ever heard of Gene Therapy?"

"No. What is it?"

"Gene therapy is when we take the best genes of both parents and use them to make a healthy, perfect baby. It is a bit more complicated when the subject is already pregnant, but still manageable if they're barely along. Now, I'm not allowed to state my views on the subject, but what do you think?"

"So you basically want to control how my child turns out?" Reyna asked, appalled. "That is one of the most disgusting things I've ever heard! I refuse!"

She then pushed her chair away and proceeded to walk towards the door. "Thank you for your time Dr…" Reyna trailed off as she realized she didn't know the doctor's name.

"Hayman," the doctor said. "And please reconsider. Our reprogenetisits will be waiting."

Reyna then walked out if the room, slamming the door as she did so.

Once outside the room, the soldier hugged her and asked, "Are you okay? What happened?!"

"Um...I'll tell you later," Reyna said, not wanting to trek him what happened quite yet. "Now, can we go see your brother?"

* * *

About twenty minutes later, they both arrived at the barracks that the soldier's all stayed in if they didn't have a family to live with. Reyna smiled as the soldier as he held the door for her and they walked in together.

A female soldier with straight black hair and thick glasses walked up to the pair and said, "Good to see you back Corporal. This must be that girl you're always talking about."

Both Reyna and Diaz blushed at this, with Diaz chuckling awkwardly. "Well, you certainly were right about her," the soldier with glasses said. "She really is pretty."

"Thank you so much," Reyna said before her stomach started to feel upset. "Where's the nearest bathroom?"

"Right this way." The soldier with glasses then guided Reyna towards a series of bathroom stalls. Reyna proceeded to run ahead of her and empty her stomach into a toilet yet again.

"Are you feeling alright Sweetheart?" the soldier asked.

"I'm fine," Reyna said, leaning over the toilet yet again. "Just a little bit nauseous. I think it's something I ate."

"Well, if it's just that, alright. I'll be waiting in the main entry way with Corporal Diaz when you're done."

Reyna then exited the bathroom minutes later and saw the soldier with glasses talking with Diaz. "How are you feeling?" Diaz asked immediately upon seeing Reyna.

"I'm fine," Reyna said. "I think I just ate something bad. Now, where's your brother?"

"Lieutenant Diaz?" the female soldier asked. "He's down at the mess hall playing cards with some other Gears. By the sounds of it, he was losing too."

Diaz chuckled and grabbed Reyna's hand. "Follow me," he said, gently pulling her along. "Thank you Private Soto."

The soldier with glasses smiled at the couple as they left. They walked until they could hear the sound of loud laughter coming from behind a pair of large doors. "I think he's in there," Diaz said, opening the door.

They walked in and saw several Gears in casual civilian clothing sitting around a table, all holding cards. Diaz walked up to one of them, a man with a long beard and long hair tied back into a man bun, and patted him on the shoulder. "Hey Oscar," Diaz said, causing the man to turn around.

"Hey Squirt!" Oscar said, pulling Diaz into a headlock and ruffling his hair. "What's up?"

"I wanted to introduce you to somebody," Diaz said, gesturing to Reyna. "This is Reyna, my girlfriend."

Reyna timidly waved at him and Oscar's face lit up in a large smile. "Damn Squirt, she's even prettier than you described her!" Oscar said, surprising Reyna by pulling her in for a hug. "I'm Oscar by the way. I'm this trouble maker's older brother."

Reyna was slightly shocked at the boldness of this man and her nose crinkled at the strange mix of alcohol and sweat that he produced. "Nice to meet you," she said, wanting to escape the hug.

"Oscar, I think you're crushing her," Diaz said jokingly. Oscar then released Reyna and Diaz said, "Why don't we all get out of here and go around town for a bit?"

"Sounds good," Oscar said. "I was just about to whoop these guys' asses, but I think I can leave."

All of the soldiers around the table chuckled and one of them said, "Oscar, you haven't won shit all day."

Reyna laughed a bit at this as she and Diaz went towards the main exit.

* * *

As they walked through town, they passed by a few DeeBee sentinels and Reyna shivered. "Those things creep me out," she said, moving closer to Diaz.

"Same here," Oscar said. "I kind of want to drive my Lancer through those things, but Dyer would have my head."

"I honestly hate it here," Reyna confessed. "I miss my old home. But I can never go back there."

"Why, because of all the Locust crystals?" Diaz asked.

"Something like that."

"We don't have to stay you know. We could just leave."

"Leave the COG?" Oscar asked. "Did you get hit in the head or something? Nobody leaves the COG."

"People did a while ago. Like the Stranded."

"That was during war times, when we weren't using soldiers as police. Besides, the Stranded were mostly found and either told to join us, or executed."

"I heard that there are still some out there, but they go by a different name."

"You really think they're gonna take two exmilitary and someone who lived pampered her whole life? No offense Reyna."

"There have to be other places we can live. Think about all the places outside New Ephyra that the COG doesn't use because of the Hammer strikes. There has to be someplace we can go. What do you think Reyna?"

Reyna thought about the question and remembered the doctor that had wanted to change how her baby would turn out. She thought about everything the COG had done for her and her family. The COG was the reason that Reyna could no longer live in the Hollows. The COG were the reason her mother was dead. The COG was the reason she had no more family. Reyna then made up her mind. "I think we should do it. We should leave."

**Just as an FYI, Dyer is the name of the First Minister shown in** _**The New Ephyran, **_**a magazine collectible found in the Fenix estate during** _**Gears of War 4**_**. I'm not sure if that would be the First Minister at this time, b**


	14. Leaving

That night, Reyna packed all of her things into a bag as she had done several times before. She noticed now, though that every time she packed, her bag got lighter and lighter.

The door to her room then opened and Diaz was standing there, holding a bag as well. "Ready?" he asked.

She nodded, heading towards him. She sighed and closed her bedroom door for the last time, ready for her new life.

They both managed to sneak out of the living quarters and saw Oscar was outside. "Let's do this," Oscar said, holding his Lancer in his hands. Reyna said he wouldn't have to use it, but Oscar insisted it was for a worst case scenario.

They all ran quietly towards the giant walls surrounding the city, managing to avoid groups of Gears patrolling. Once they got there, they saw that the walls were over twenty feet tall and made of solid steel. "How exactly do you propose we get over those walls?" Diaz asked.

"We don't," Oscar said. "We're going to go through them."

He then proceeded to a circuit panel that neither Reyna nor Diaz noticed and proceeded to mess with the wiring. Both of them watched him for a minute or two, while also looking out for guards.

The walls then moved and provided a large opening, big enough for at least two Centaurs to pass through at once. "Come on," Oscar said. "We're only going to have a minute before the alarms…"

Oscar trailed off as a loud siren started blaring from all directions. "Go off," Oscar finished.

"Hey!" a loud female voice shouted from a group of Gears. "What are you doing?!"

The group of soldiers then proceeded towards them and Diaz yelled, "Run!"

Nobody hesitated and the group proceeded to run away from the Gears and from New Ephyra. Oscar and Diaz were naturally quick and easily outran the Gears, with Reyna just behind them.

They ran for miles and could still hear the soldiers chasing after them through a large forest. Reyna started to struggle to keep up with them and eventually fell to the ground, groaning. Diaz noticed and ran back to her, yelling at Oscar, "Keep going!"

Diaz then knelt beside Reyna and asked, "Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm feeling dizzy," Reyna said, her head feeling like it was spinning. She then rolled over and threw up on the forest floor and Diaz scooped her up in his massive arms.

"Come on," he said, running with her in his arms.

Reyna then started to see stars and Diaz said, "Come on Reyna. Stay awake. We've almost lost them. Stay awake! Stay…"

Reyna didn't hear the rest as she closed her eyes, giving in to her desire to sleep.

* * *

Reyna woke up several hours later, her head pounding. She noticed she was tucked into a bed she had never been in before and panicked. Had they all been captured once she passed out? Where were the others?

"Hello?" she asked. "Is anybody here?"

A familiar face then looked into the room and Reyna smiled. "You gave us a bit of a scare," Diaz said, hugging her. "How do you feel?"

"My head is pounding like a drum and I feel nauseous," Reyna replied, chuckling weakly. "Where are we?"

"Well, once you passed out, Oscar and I kept running for about twenty minutes before we finally lost the Gears. We had no clue where we were, but eventually we were being told to put our hands up and drop our weapons.

"We had apparently run into one of the very few Stranded settlements left. We begged then to give us shelter, but they said that they didn't accept any garbage the COG had thrown out. So I held you up and said that you were sick and to please just take us until you got better."

"How long was I passed out?"

"About a day. Once they realize you're awake, though, we're gonna have to get going."

Reyna looked around the room and asked, "Where's Oscar?"

"Making himself familiar with some of the village females. I think he's also trying to get us kicked out."

Reyna chucked and looked into the former soldier's beautiful blue eyes. "I need to tell you something," she said hesitantly. "It's about what happened to me. Why I got sick."

"Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine. Never better actually. I'm pregnant."

Diaz went silent for a minute before shouting in joy. "I'm going to be a father!" he exclaimed, picking up Reyna in a hug. She laughed as he spun her around, repeatedly shouting, "I'm going to a dad! You're going to be a mom!"

Oscar then walked in the room and asked, "What's with all the yelling?"

Reyna smiled at him and said, "I'm pregnant."

"I'm gonna be an Uncle!" Oscar shouted, joining in on the hug as well.

Reyna laughed and said, "Glad you two are happy."

* * *

The next day, they were all standing outside of the Stranded settlement, with a group of them staring. One man, who looked to be around 40 and had an aura of confidence, walked up to them and said, "Sorry we can't take you any longer, but we don't trust anything the COG touched, especially it's soldiers."

"Please," Diaz said, begging. "We have nowhere else to go. My girlfriend's pregnant! Please, let us stay."

"Sorry, can't let you do that."

"Lyle, please."

"Look, COG. Our alliance was just to protect my people from the Lambent, but those creatures are gone now. Our alliance is over."

They all sighed and turned to walk away, before one woman shouted, "Wait!"

Everyone turned to face her, and the woman said, "Ollivar, these people left the COG. I thought we used to accept COG stragglers."

"That was before the war ended."

"So once the war ended, everything changed? They offered amnesty to all of us, but we denied it to support you. If you were a good leader, you would have let these people join us. Those two clearly know how to fight, and that girl is pregnant for God's sake! You really want to turn away two able bodied men and a pregnant teenager?"

"Look, for all we know, these people are COG spies, sent to kill us all!"

"We saw them running from COG forces hunting them down! Do you really think they're spies?"

"If you think they're so goddamn worthy, you can join them!"

"I will!"

The woman then walked out if the crowd and towards Reyna, Oscar and Diaz. "Anyone else?" Ollivar asked to the crowd.

Surprisingly, a large majority of the crowd walked away from Ollivar and to the group of three. "We're done with you Ollivar," the woman said.

"Fine! Leave! Who needs you?!"

They all then walked away, with Oscar, Diaz and Reyna leading the group. "Where do we go now?" Reyna asked, afraid of the answer.

"Wherever we want," Diaz responded, kissing her on the cheek.

**Kind of wanted to make this chapter longer, but couldn't find it in myself to do it. **


	15. Outsiders

The group walked for days, with some of them on strange horses with horns on their heads, stopping to rest under the shade of the trees with some of the men staying awake as guards.

Eventually, one of the women scouting ahead shouted, "Come quick! I think I found something!"

Reyna looked at Diaz as he nodded. They all ran towards where the woman was yelling and eventually saw a town covered in ash. "This must have been a place where the Hammer of Dawn hit," one of the men said.

"Where are we exactly?" Reyna asked.

"I think we're in Gerrenhalt," Diaz said. "I remember hearing about a reporter that came out here about an hour before the Hammer strikes. Nobody ever really looked at it since the Hammer destroyed most main roads."

"But the roads look just wide enough to fit the horses," Oscar said. "If they were pulling a cart. We might need more than the four we have though."

"All in good time Oscar," Reyna said. "For now, we need to decide on a leader."

"I think he should lead us!" one of the women shouted, pointing at Diaz.

"Yeah!" another woman shouted. "You were the one who told us to stop listening to Ollivar! You should be our new leader!"

"I'm not sure," Diaz said until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He looked over and saw Reyna smiling confidently at him. "You got this," Reyna said.

He smiled back and said, "Alright, if we're going to be a new faction, we'll need a new name. We can't go by Stranded anymore, since we ask left the one remaining Stranded colony. Does anybody have any ideas?"

"How about Raiders?" Oscar asked.

"That makes us sound like a corny Thrashball team. Anything else?"

Reyna thought about the question and asked, "How about Outsiders?"

"Outsiders," Diaz repeated. "Why that?"

"Because we're not stranded from the COG anymore, but we are outside of it at our own choice. We're Outsiders."

"I like it. Alright everybody, from here on out, you are no longer Stranded. We are the Outsiders and we will stay strong outside of the COG's walls!"

Everybody cheered in celebration and Reyna laughed before kissing him on the cheek. "I love you," she said, still laughing a bit.

"I love you too," Diaz said a he pulled Reyna in for a deeper kiss on the lips.

* * *

About six months later, Reyna woke up and rolled over in her bed, expecting to see the man she loved. But, to her surprise, she was alone in the bed.

Reyna got up and changed out of her pajamas, thinking where he could be. The most likely option was that he was with Oscar, training some of the men and women how to handle a rifle. Even though they didn't have much ammo, Oscar had said it was essential for all able bodied people in the village to learn how to fight.

This practice, however, was proving to be a waste of time. While being a great fighter, Oscar was not a good teacher and often got mad and angry at his pupils. His brother was a bit better than him, but for the most part, a lot of their people that didn't already know how to fight were still incompetent.

As Reyna changed, she grumbled at how most of her clothes no longer fit her. Being six months pregnant, her stomach had gotten significantly bigger and as a result, she needed maternity clothes. Luckily, some of the Outsider women had also had children, so they were nice enough to give her clothes.

Reyna personally didn't like the maternity clothes she had been given though. The colors were too bright and cheery for her taste, being mostly pinks and light purples. Nothing that went with Reyna's favorite boots.

As she headed towards the door and put the golden spike through her now braided hair, she noticed something seemed off. Normally outside of their private living quarters was loud with the sound of children playing and parents scolding. Today, however, all Reyna could hear was dead silence.

She walked outside and was even more confused by the red flower petals scattered along the dirt road. Reyna picked one up and noticed they were roses, which grew in some bushes deep in the forest.

She noticed that the rose petals were forming somewhat of a trail and she followed it into the meeting hall. She opened the door and yelped when about ten women pounced on her at once, pulling her into a side room.

"What's going on?" Reyna asked when the women let her go.

"It's a surprise," one of them replied. "But you're going to have to change into this."

She then held up a white dress that looked like it had been tailored for a pregnant woman. Reyna raised an eyebrow at this and the women giggled. She then sighed and grabbed the dress, making the women all leave her to change in private. Reyna looked down at her stomach and asked, "Why do I have a feeling you have something to do with this?"

She felt a kick in response and laughed at her unborn child. Once Reyna was dressed, she exited the small room that could have classified more as a closet than a changing room. All of the women had vanished, but she could hear voices carrying from the main meeting room.

She walked down the hallway and saw at the beginning of the room was Diaz, standing in a fancy black tuxedo. "You look amazing," Diaz said, smiling the smile she had fallen in love with.

"So do you," Reyna said. "Now can you please explain to me what's going on?"

"Well, Oscar and I discussed it, and we believe that this baby should not be born into a world where it's parents aren't married."

"Are you saying...?"

Diaz nodded and got down on one knee. "Reyna, will you marry me?"

Reyna's eyes immediately watered at the question as she looked at him. He pulled a small golden ring out if his pocket and showed it to her. "I know it's not much," he said. "But I hope you'll take it anyways."

Reyna's face broke into a large smile and, unable to say words, she nodded her head rapidly. The only reason she knew anything about what he was doing was reading books in the New Ephyra library and hearing Adam talk about his wife with a sad look in his eyes.

He laughed at her and said, "Well, let's do it."

He then walked down to the end of the aisle and got into position. One of the women, the same that had given Reyna her dress, handed the former princess a bouquet of white flowers. Reyna wondered how long it had taken for them to plan this, but she didn't care. This was by far the sweetest thing anyone had ever done for her, and she was certainly going to enjoy it.

Reyna smiled and walked down the aisle. There was no music playing, but the sentiment was the same. She felt lighter than air, floating rather than walking down the aisle.

Once she reached the end, she handed her bouquet to a woman sitting in the front row, who smiled happily. Oscar was standing behind the podium and Reyna smiled at him, but was confused as to what he was doing.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the union of these two people," Oscar said, clearing up Reyna's mind. He was officiating the ceremony. "These two untied together in order to stand up to a big and powerful threat and stand by each other no matter what. Do you two have vows for each other?"

"I do," Diaz said, pulling out a card. He looked into his bride's brown eyes and put down the card. "Reyna, from the moment I saw you, I knew you were the one. I know you've had a rough life, but that's how war works. We all lost people, but I'm determined to not lose anyone else. If you'll take me, I'll always be yours."

Reyna was tearing up now and she sniffled and wiped her tears away. "Wow," she said. "Um, I don't have anything prepared, so I'm going to speak from the heart like you just did. For the longest time, I was distrustful of people for some personal reasons, but you opened my eyes. Diaz, I love you and always will."

"Alright then," Oscar said, wiping tears from his eyes as well. "Does anybody have a reason why these two should not be wed? Speak now or forever hold your peace."

When nobody spoke Oscar smiled. "Alright," he said, looking in his brother's eyes. "Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"

"I do," Diaz said, eyes welling up yet again.

Oscar then turned his attention to Reyna."And do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, till death do you part?"

"I do," Reyna said, holding his massive hand in her small one.

"Than by the power vested in me by absolutely nobody, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Diaz then pulled Reyna in for a long and passionate kiss, to which she did not object.

The whole meeting hall cheered in celebration as the two continued to kiss. Reyna didn't even hear them. All she could feel was Diaz's arms around her small waist and his lips locked onto hers.

She didn't care what the future would bring her, because the present was so perfect at that moment.

***Sniff sniff* I'm not crying, you're crying! But in all serious, this was one of my favorite chapters to write so far, because writing schmultz like this is one of my favorite things to write. What can I say, I'm a big fan of sap! **


	16. New Life

Three months later, Reyna woke up facing her husband and smiled. She felt a hard kick in her stomach and looked down at it. Being nine months pregnant, her stomach was much bigger, but she knew that it wouldn't be for much longer.

She scooted closer to her husband and lightly pecked him on the cheek, and his eyes opened slowly. He smiled at her and said, "Hey."

"Hey," she responded. Reyna yelped in surprise as he grabbed her and pulled her in so he could proceed to attack her with kisses.

She laughed as he kissed her stomach and said, "Any day now, huh?"

"Yep," she said, rubbing her stomach.

"You ready to come out and greet me little man?"

"Who said we'll have a boy? I wouldn't mind if we have a little baby girl."

"I guess you're right, but it's still fun to joke about."

"We should probably start considering names, huh?"

"How about you think of a name for a girl and I'll think of one for a boy?"

"Do you have any ideas?"

"I kind of want to name the baby after my dad. He died around 3AE. Can we name our boy after him?"

"Sure. What was his name?"

"Robert."

"I kind of like that."

"What about you? Got any girl names in mind?"

"Not really."

"Why don't we name her after your mother?"

"Um...that's not the best idea. My mother's name wasn't that great." Reyna knew that so few people on Sera are named Myrrah and it was basically outlawed to have a child with the name that was synonymous with the almost complete annihilation of the human race. She also had never told her husband her darkest secret and would rather he not find out this way.

"Alright, so we're not naming her after your mother," Diaz said, snapping Reyna out of her head. "Do you have any other ideas?"

"I'll have to think for a bit about it. But I think we should get up. You and I have a few town meetings to sit through."

Diaz kissed her one more time on the lips before getting up out of bed.

Reyna struggled to do the same, but insisted she didn't need help. Once out of bed, he kissed her again and handed her a light green long sleeve that one of the mothers of the village had given her.

Reyna smiled at the shirt, since it was one of the few that wasn't an obnoxiously bright color and actually went with her boots pretty well, but that was no longer an issue due to her swollen feet. Reyna had been reduced to wearing slippers and sandals and missed her boots greatly.

Diaz kissed her one final time before heading out off the room, leaving Reyna alone with her thoughts and the baby in her stomach.

* * *

Reyna was sitting in a chair next to her husband, bored out of her mind. These weekly meetings, while incredibly necessary, were also incredibly boring. Reyna knew that as the leader's wife she had to go, but that didn't make the experience any more enjoyable.

She felt another powerful kick and actually flinched in pain, causing Diaz to stop talking. He immediately was next to her and asked, "Are you alright?"

Reyna nodded and said, "Go ahead and continue."

As Diaz walked away, Reyna felt another kick and knew it was something more this time. She didn't want to interrupt the meeting so she landed over and whispered quietly to her stomach, "Can't you wait a few more hours?"

Once her first contraction settled down, she sighed in relief. Only about one minute later, however, another one started and Reyna realized she wasn't going to make it through the meeting.

She slowly got up and walked over to the podium that Diaz was behind. She leaned over and whispered quietly, "Honey, I'm going back to our room. I'm not feeling too great."

"Are you alright?" he asked, not hiding the panic he felt.

"I'm fine-" Reyna said, her words being cut off by yet another contraction.

"Are you having contractions?" he asked.

"I'm telling you, I'm fine…" This time she trailed off as she felt liquid trickling down her legs. "Uh oh," she said, now grasping her stomach in pain.

"Oscar, quick, help me carry her into the infirmary!"

Oscar got up from his seat just behind the podium and they both picked up Reyna, with Oscar holding her legs and Diaz holding her head. "I love you," Diaz said, tears welling in his eyes and dripping onto her face.

Reyna nodded and wiped her own tears away as she flinched at the feeling of yet another contraction.

Oscar and Diaz jogged towards the infirmary and placed Reyna gently down on a cot. "Are any of our people doctors?" Diaz asked.

"Get real Kid," Oscar said. "All remaining doctors are either medics or still with the COG. We're on our own here."

"I don't know how to deliver a baby!"

"Stop shouting and help me!" Reyna yelled, starting her lamaze breathing. "Go get one of women who already did this!"

Oscar nodded and ran out of the room while Diaz held out his hand for Reyna to hold. She didn't hesitate and held it so tight he felt like his bones were being crushed.

About two minutes later, Oscar returned with two people that Reyna assumed were husband and wife.

"You're going to be alright Sweetheart," the wife said, smiling. "Trust me, I've done this three times."

"It hurts," Reyna complained, feeling a much stronger contraction than the last ones.

"I know Sweetie, but you're going to have to start pushing now."

Reyna obeyed and pushed, out of breath when she was done. "Come on Sweetie, just a few more," the woman said in encouraging words.

"Diaz, I can't do this," Reyna said, voice full of fear and dread.

"Come on Reyna," Diaz said. "You're the strongest woman I know. You managed to hide from those Locust on Azura to save your life. You can do this."

Reyna was sweating now from the pain and yelled, her voice laced with swear words. "Just a couple more," the woman said, propping Reyna up to a better position.

Reyna shouted one more time, her words all blurring together into a scream.

Once she was done screaming, there was a new voice added to the confusion of the infirmary room.

* * *

Reyna smiled down at the bundle of blankets in her arms. Diaz had an arm around her shoulder and had a smile almost too big for his face. "Our daughter," he said, hugging his wife.

The baby girl already had a head full of black hair like Diaz's and skin in a similar shade to Reyna's. The infant's eyes opened and revealed them to be light blue, unlike her mother but exactly like her father.

The baby looked up at her parents with wide eyes and Reyna smiled at her. "Do you have a name in mind?" Diaz asked.

"I was thinking...Kait," Reyna said, smiling at her daughter and husband.

"Kait…" Diaz said, thinking. "I love it."

Oscar then walked into the room and smiled at the couple. "Alright, where's my nephew? He's gonna learn some of the finer things in life from his Uncle Oscar."

"Actually Oscar, it's a girl," Diaz said, gesturing to his wide eyed daughter.

"A girl!" Oscar exclaimed, hugging his brother. "Fantastic! Where is she?"

Diaz gestured to Reyna, who was still in the bed holding her newborn daughter. "Do you want to hold her?" Reyna asked her husband.

Diaz looked at her questioningly until she smiled at him. He hesitantly took his daughter in his arms and she let out a tiny yawn. Oscar leaned over his brother's shoulder and smiled at his niece, waving his fingers in her face.

Kait looked up at the two strange men and wriggled a bit in her father's arms. The one holding her was okay, but the second man looked scary and his fingers that were being waved in her face smelled funny.

Kait started to cry and Diaz looked at his wife, panicked. Reyna shrugged and Diaz started to bounce Kait lightly in an attempt to soothe her.

"Shh, shh, shh," Diaz shushed. "You're okay. It's alright. Daddy's here."

As Kait started to just lightly whimper, Diaz whispered to her, "I promise Kait, I will never leave you. Daddy will always be here for you, okay? I promise."

As Kait finally calmed down, she fell asleep in her father's arms. Reyna looked at the scene and smiled happily. Her husband was smiling down at their newborn daughter, with her brother in law watching closely.

For once since the Hollows had been destroyed, everything was perfect for Reyna. Absolutely perfect.

**Dawww. This chapter was going to be longer but I couldn't really find a way to extend it without it being annoying. **


	17. Uncle Oscar

Reyna rolled over in bed that night, expecting to feel the warm frame of her husband. Instead she just felt cold sheets.

Reyna smiled and got up, knowing exactly where he was, the same place he had been the past week.

Reyna quietly walked into the nursery next to their bedroom and sure enough, she saw the frame of a man standing over her daughter's cradle.

She put an arm on his shoulder and giggled quietly when he jumped. "You know she's not going anywhere, right?" Reyna said to her husband.

Diaz chuckled at her and surprised his wife by pulling her in for a kiss. "Come back to bed Honey," Reyna said. "It's cold without you."

Diaz looked at Kait again and back to his smiling wife. "I know Reyna, but I can't help it," he said. "You two are draining my sanity."

Reyna kissed him on the cheek and he said, "But it's worth it."

* * *

About a month later, both of them jumped up in bed as a loud crying could be heard in the room next to them. "Your turn," Diaz said to her.

Reyna sighed as she rolled over and out of the bed and slowly made her way to the nursery. She picked up her daughter and shushed her until she realized her daughter was hungry.

Reyna lowered her night shirt and Kait immediately latched on. "That might be my favorite part about having a baby," Diaz said from the doorway, frightening Reyna.

He walked up to her and she jokingly punched him about his comment and he chuckled. "I'm kidding Reyna," he said as Kait finished her meal.

Reyna handed the baby to him and he patted her on the back until she gave a tiny burp, making the couple both chuckle.

Once they were all dressed, Reyna sat in the rocking chair, rocking her daughter slowly. As she did, however, there was a knock on the door. "Come in," Reyna said.

A man whose name Reyna couldn't remember, walked in and said, "Sorry for interrupting you. But we're having a problem with the South village."

About one month before Kait was born, Diaz and Reyna had decided their village should attempt to split into two, with one group heading to a town south of them. "What's the issue?" Diaz asked.

"That's the thing," the man said. "We're not sure. They said they'll only talk to you two. They refused to talk to anybody but the leaders."

"We'll need someone to watch Kait while we're gone," Reyna told her husband. "I don't think she should be going in the middle of a dispute between the villages."

They thought about it and Diaz asked, "What about Oscar?"

Reyna looked at her husband and asked, "What about Oscar?"

"What if he watched Kait while we're gone?"

Reyna tried to contain her laughter but couldn't manage as she shook with laughter. Diaz rolled his eyes at her as she continued laughing. "What's so bad about Oscar?" he asked.

Once Reyna was laughing lightly, she wiped the tears of laughter from her face and said, "Honey, I love Oscar, but do you seriously think he can handle a baby?"

"Come on. What could go wrong?"

"Let's see. He could bring her to a bar, leave her crying while he's drunk, or he could lose her."

"Come on Reyna, he's her uncle. He wouldn't let anything happen to her."

Kait gurgled in her father's arms and Diaz smiled. "See, Kait agrees too. And it'll hopefully just be for the afternoon."

Reyna sighed as she realized she wouldn't win this argument and said, "Alright, let's ask him."

* * *

Once they tracked down Oscar, unsurprisingly in the town bar, they asked him if he would watch Kait for the day. "Sure, I'll watch the kid," Oscar said, putting his beer on the bar.

"Thanks Oscar," Diaz said. "We just need to deal with this issue and should be back in a few hours."

Oscar then got up and walked with them to the nursery, where Reyna started to relay instructions to him. "That bag over there has all the supplies you should need. There are about ten diapers and bottles of breast milk, her rattle, her teddy bear, her pacifier and anything else she might need.

"Her nap time is at 14:00 and her bedtime is at 22:00. She needs her pacifier and to be rocked before she can sleep. She also has to sleep with her bear, otherwise she will cry for the rest of the night. She gets a bottle every two hours or so and there are also towels in the bag for when she needs to be burped. Do not leave her alone on the changing table. Are you even listening to me?!"

Oscar clearly was not as he was no longer looking at her and had a glazed look in his eyes. "Huh?" he asked. "Yeah, I was listening. Feed her, change her, put her to sleep."

Reyna glared at him and looked at her husband. "Honey, can you take Kait into the other room? There are a few more things I need to tell your brother."

Diaz nodded, slightly afraid both of his wife and for his brother. He picked Kait up from her cradle and walked into their bedroom. Once the door closed, Reyna grabbed one of the two knives she had on her belt and put it to Oscar's neck.

He flinched back and looked at his sister in law, whose eyes narrowed. "Listen to me very closely Oscar," she said, not attempting to hide the venom in her words. "If even a single hair is out of place on my baby's head, I will kill you. Do you understand?"

Oscar gulped and nodded and Reyna said, "I will repeat again. Do you understand me?!"

"Yes I do," Oscar said, scared of the woman who held a knife at his throat.

"Good. Now wait here."

She then put her knife back in its protector and left the room. She came back about a minute later with her husband and daughter.

Diaz handed Kait over to Oscar, who hesitantly held his niece similar to how Diaz had held her. Diaz grabbed his brother's arm to show him how to support Kait's head. The infant was so small in his massive arms, and Oscar was honestly afraid he would drop her.

"We should be back hopefully by tonight," Diaz said. "Bye my little Kitty Kat."

He then kissed Kait on the forehead, making the infant giggle. She always giggled at her father's nickname for her, and this time was no exception.

"Goodbye Kaitie," Reyna said, also kissing Kait on the forehead.

Kait fussed in Oscar's arms, reaching out towards her parents, wanting to be held by them.

They then walked out of the room and closed the door. Kait looked up at Oscar with wide eyes and Oscar smiled at her. "Looks like it's just gonna be me and you kid, huh?"

Almost as if on cue, Kait burst into tears, making Oscar jump. He bounced his arms lightly to make the baby to stop crying, but to no avail.

Kait increased her volume to make sure he was paying attention to her and Oscar thought about what she could have wanted. "Are you hungry kid?" Oscar asked.

Kait stopped wailing and instead whimpered, so Oscar grabbed a bottle out of the bag. He gently placed the end of the bottle in her mouth and Kait immediately started to drink.

Oscar sighed as Kait finally settled down and sat in the rocking chair with Kait still in his arm.

He closed his eyes for a minute, already ready to go to sleep when Kait started to cry again. Oscar bounced his arms more before remembering what Reyna said about burping.

He held her so that her head was just above his shoulder and patted her on the back. He continued doing this for a minute until Kait finally burped. Along with burping, however, the infant also spit up a bit of the milk onto Oscar's back.

"Ulgh!" Oscar said, holding the infant away from his back. Kait giggled a bit in Oscar's arms, clapping her hands as well.

Oscar sighed as he removed his sleeveless leather jacket and placed it near the dirty laundry basket. He picked up Kait again, now wearing nothing but a black sleeveless shirt.

Kait giggled in her uncle's arms and Oscar looked at her. "You're kind of cute, you know that kid?" Oscar asked his niece, who was still giggling.

A powerful odor then hit his nose and he quickly used his free hand to cover it. He looked down at Kait, who was still giggling and groaned. "I stand corrected," he said to her.

Kait started to fuss a bit in his arms so Oscar knew he had to do something. He didn't want to ask one of the women in the village, because he knew they would never stop making fun of him for it. So he would have to do this by himself.

He carried Kait to the wooden table in the nursery that functioned as a changing table and grabbed a diaper and other supplies out of the bag. Once he heard crying, however, he immediately ran back to the table. Oscar instantly panicked when he saw Kait was no longer on the table, but rather on the ground, wailing at the top of her lungs.

Oscar picked her up and started to shush her yet again. He realized what a bad idea or was for him to leave her alone on the table, but right now he just wanted her to stop crying. One thing he was grateful for was that the table was relatively low to the ground.

Once Kait was finally calmed down, he proceeded to the task at hand. He removed Kait's clothing and pulled back the straps on the diaper. The second he did, he gagged at the smell and said, "Holy crap!"

Kait giggled at her uncle as he continued to change her. Once he successfully got her old diaper off and got her into a new diaper, he commented, "Man you smell kid. Let's get you a bath."

Oscar picked her up and carried her into the bathroom. There was no water taps, but there was a tub. He realized he would need water and went outside to the nearest water pump with Kait in his arms. He filled a bucket full of water and carried it back to the kitchen. He heated the water a bit over the stove before going back to the bathroom. He dumped the water into the tub and put his hand in to test the heat.

Once he deemed the water good enough, he removed Kait's clothes and diaper once again and put her in the tub. Kait squealed once she felt the water on her and started to kick and scream, clearly uncomfortable.

Oscar panicked and grabbed some toys that were next to the tub, such as a duck, some plastic rings and a plastic pail.

Oscar smiled as Kait became fascinated with the pail and began to lather her hair with soap. As he did, however, Kait found a use for the pail and proceeded to soak her uncle with water.

Oscar sputtered before grabbing the pail from his niece. "Alright, you're done with this," he said, trying to tug the pail away.

Kait, however, had other ideas and held onto the pail, squealing with protest at her uncle trying to take her pail away. Oscar conceded and gave Kait back the pail before she could start crying again.

Kait gurgled in triumph at having kept her pail as Oscar tried to wash the soap out of her hair. Kait looked at her uncle and, seeing he was distracted, dumped yet another pail of water on him.

Oscar sputtered again and glared at the infant. "You really are a little troublemaker, you know that?" he asked her as he lifted her out of the water, finished bathing her.

Kait squealed once again when she was removed from the water and started crying again. Oscar groaned as he dried her off and placed her into a third diaper.

As the infant continued to wail, Oscar had an idea and grabbed the teddy bear Reyna had spoken of. It had an almost instant effect and Kait immediately settled down, hugging the stuffed animal.

Oscar shivered and looked down at his current clothes. Seeing how they were soaking wet, he knew that he would need to change.

Oscar sighed as he carried Kait towards the main living quarters where he currently lived. When he was about halfway, a young woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes said, "Oh how sweet! Are you watching her for your family? That is so nice!"

A light bulb practically appeared over Oscar's head as he got an idea. "Yep," he said. "Reyna and my little brother went to the Southern village to deal with some things, and I, being a responsible uncle, decided to watch this little girl here." He gestured to Kait, who was playing with parts of his beard.

He flinched as she decided to pull on part of his longer graying mustache and the woman chuckled at him. "Babies can be a handful, huh?" she asked. "My sister had me babysit a few times and they can be difficult, huh?"

"Yeah," Oscar said as he got Kait to let go of his mustache. "But it's worth it, isn't it?"

"It really is. If you want, I could help you."

"Sounds great!" Oscar exclaimed. "I'll be back in a minute. I gave her a bath and she decided to soak me in water."

The woman chuckled as Oscar walked off with Kait.

* * *

Once Oscar was in a fresh set of clothes, he saw the woman was waiting outside the living quarters for him. "Hope you don't mind, but I also invited my friend," she said, gesturing to the woman next to her. She had silky black hair and very tight clothes on, making Oscar smile.

"No problem," Oscar said. "The more the merrier."

They all walked back towards Kait's nursery, with the two women fawning over the infant. "Look at her little hands!" the blonde exclaimed.

"She's so cute I just want to eat her up!" the raven haired woman said. She started to tickle Kait and the infant laughed and squirmed in her uncle's arms, making it more difficult for Oscar to hold her.

Once they got to the nursery, Oscar set Kait down in a small crate that functioned as a playpen but the blonde immediately picked her up. "Look at the little cutie!" she exclaimed, playing with Kait's toes, causing the infant to laugh.

"She's so precious!" the raven haired woman said, blowing butterfly kisses onto Kait's belly.

The infant yawned and the blonde said, "I think someone is getting tired. Are you getting tired Sweetie Pie?"

Kait giggled but yawned again. The blonde handed Kait to Oscar and asked, "You know how to get her to sleep, right?"

"Uh...of course I do!" Oscar exclaimed taking Kait from her.

He sat in the rocking chair and stared at the infant, hoping it would do something. When nothing happened, Oscar put Kait in her cradle and turned to the women. "She should be able to put herself to sleep," he said to them, hoping it was true. "But we should go somewhere else. Don't want to wake her up."

The two women nodded and walked with him into the small living room. The blonde smiled wickedly at Oscar and pulled him in for a kiss. "You are great with kids, you know that?" she asked.

Oscar chuckled as she kissed him yet again. The raven haired one kissed his cheek and he said, "You know this couch functions as a bed."

Both of the women chuckled pervitishly as Oscar extended the couch into a mattress.

As the women and Oscar all lied down on the couch, all clothless. The women started kissing Oscar almost aggressively when an all too familiar crying rang through the room.

The raven haired woman asked, "Shouldn't you go calm her down?"

"She'll cry herself out eventually," Oscar said, leaning towards the blonde.

She pulled away from him and slapped his cheek. "How horrible!" she exclaimed. "Go calm your niece down!"

"That little pest can wait for a couple more minutes," Oscar said, leaning towards the raven haired woman.

She slapped him as well and gathered her clothes. "We're leaving!" she exclaimed, quickly putting on her clothes and moving towards the door.

"Wait a minute!" Oscar exclaimed as the door slammed shut, leaving him alone with Kait once again.

Oscar groaned as Kait increased her volume and he went into the nursery, quickly putting his clothes back on. He glared at the infant as he picked her up. "Thanks a lot kid," he said angrily. "You just cost me two good looking women. Are you proud of yourself?"

Kait continued crying loudly and Oscar shushed her. "I'm sorry kid," he said in a somewhat comforting voice. "I didn't mean to be mad. Please stop crying."

Kait continued crying and Oscar realized he would have to switch tactics. He then had an idea and asked, "You probably never got to sleep, huh kid?"

Oscar then carried Kait over to the rocking chair and started rocking. Kait continued to cry and Oscar figured out that she wanted something else. He had an idea and hoped he was wrong. "Do you want a song?" he asked her.

Kait stopped wailing and was now just whimpering and Oscar groaned. He didn't know many lullabies, and he would also have to think of one to match his voice, otherwise he would scare his niece even more.

Oscar then remembered a song that he had heard around, mainly in his childhood. He looked down at the crying Kait and sighed, hoping this would work.

"_All around me are familiar faces_

_Worn out places, worn out faces_

_Hide my head, I want to drown my sorrow_

_No tomorrow, no tomorrow"_

Kait had stopped crying completely and was now staring up at her uncle with wide eyes, eager to hear more.

Oscar smiled at his niece as he continued the song.

"_And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sad. _

_The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had. _

_I find it hard to tell you, I find out hard to take. _

_When people run in circles it's a very very_

_Mad World_

_Mad World"_

Kait yawned as she closed her eyes and drifted off into sleep and Oscar sighed in relief. He gently put her in the cradle and draped her blanket over her, careful not to wake the sleeping infant.

He then carefully closed the door to the nursery and folded the couch back info an actual couch and sat down. He heard the doorknob jiggling and watched as Reyna and his brother walked in.

"Not bad Oscar," Diaz said jokingly.

"Where's our daughter?" Reyna asked.

"Shh," Oscar shushed. "She's sleeping in the nursery. Kid took a lot out of me."

Reyna looked at him, surprised. "Nothing went wrong?" she asked.

"No," Oscar lied. "No trouble at all."

"Where's your vest?" Diaz asked. "And weren't you wearing a different shirt earlier?"

"Alright, there were a few issues," Oscar said, rubbing the back of his head. "But it was nothing I couldn't handle."

"Well thanks for doing it Oscar," Reyna said. "Can we count on you to do it again?"

"I'll have to think about that Reyna."

**This chapter was so much fun to write! I knew getting into this story that I would get to write for Oscar, and I was excited. Oscar is one of my favorite characters from** _**Gears of War 4**_**, alongside Kait and Reyna (sensing a pattern here?) But anyways, I liked writing for Oscar simply because I get to make a lot more inappropriate jokes in order to fit his character, and this chapter was no exception. **

**As I started to write this, I wondered 'What is the most absurd thing Oscar could do while watching his niece?' Then I came up with it, he uses her to pick up some girls but it ultimately blows up on his face. I think it turned out pretty good. **

**And for the two or three of you that don't know, the song I used was **_**Mad World**_ **by Gary Jules used in the** _**Gears of War 1**_ **trailer. **


	18. Growing Up an Outsider

Reyna shot up in bed as Kait's wails filled her eardrums. Diaz groaned and covered his ears with his pillow. "Your turn," he grumbled, turning away from his wife.

Reyna groaned as she got out of bed for the third time that night to soothe her daughter. She went into the nursery and saw Kait crying in her crib. They had switched her from a cradle to a crib that night and the infant wasn't too happy about it.

Reyna picked Kait up and held her close, shushing and gently bouncing her arms. When Kait continued crying, Reyna realized she would have to switch tactics.

She sat down in the rocking chair and started rocking it slowly. Little did she know that these exact scene had carried out so many years ago.

* * *

_Reyna continued crying and Myrrah thought about all the things her daughter could want. She had just been fed and she didn't need a diaper change, so those two things were clearly out. Myrrah had an idea and asked her daughter, "Do you want me to sing you a lullaby?"_

_Reyna's crying turned to whimpers and Myrrah stared at her daughter. Normally Myrrah would never sing, but Reyna had been crying for hours and the Queen was getting desperate. She thought about the songs she knew and remembered one Niles had taught her. She began to sing in an eerie tune:_

"_Wandering child of the earth  
Do you know just how much you're worth?  
You have walked this path since your birth  
You were destined for more."_

_Reyna had stopped crying and was mesmerized by her mother's eerie lullaby._

"_There are those who'll tell you you're wrong  
They will try to silence your song  
But right here is where you belong  
So don't search anymore_

_You are the dawn of a new day that's waking  
A masterpiece still in the making  
The blue in an ocean of grey  
You are right where you need to be  
Poised to inspire and to succeed  
You'll look back and you'll realize one day."_

* * *

Reyna was so engrossed in singing the lullaby that she didn't even hear when Diaz walked to the nursery and was standing in the doorway.

"_In your eyes there is doubt  
As you try to figure it out  
But that's not what life is about  
So have faith there's a way_

_Though the world may try to define you  
It can't take the light that's inside you  
So don't you dare try to hide  
Let your fears fade away._

"

Diaz then walked up to his wife and Reyna jumped. He smiled at her and gestured for her to continue on.

"_You are the dawn of a new day that's waking  
A masterpiece still in the making  
The blue in an ocean of grey  
You are right where you need to be  
Poised to inspire and to succeed  
You'll look back and you'll realize one day_

_You are the dawn of a new day that's waking  
A masterpiece still in the making  
The blue in an ocean of grey  
You are right where you need to be  
Poised to inspire and to succeed  
Soon you'll finally find your own way_

."

Kait let out a small yawn and fell asleep in her mother's arms, and both Reyna and Diaz smiled at this. Reyna gently set Kait down in the crib so as to not wake her and softly closed the door to the nursery.

"Where did you learn that song?" Diaz asked. "I've never heard it before."

"My mother sang it to me when I was younger," Reyna said, sighing as she remembered her life in the Hollows. That had been so long ago it felt like a lifetime had already passed between then and now.

Diaz kissed his wife on the forehead and Reyna smiled at him. She was glad she was in this lifetime now.

* * *

"Come on Kaitie you can do it!" Reyna exclaimed in encouragement to her daughter who was standing just a few feet away from her parents.

Kait clumsily toddled towards her parents, who were smiling with joy. "Her first steps!" Diaz exclaimed. "Who do you think she'll walk to?"

"Well, Kaitie is a mommy's girl," Reyna said. "So I think the decision should be easy for her."

"I don't know, she can be quite a daddy's girl," Diaz said. "I think she's coming to me."

"Oh, you're on."

They both jokingly glared at each other and started shouting encouragements at Kait. "Come on Kaitie!" Reyna exclaimed. "Walk to Mommy! You can do it Sweetie!"

"Don't listen to Mommy, Kitty Kat," Diaz said sweetly. "Come to Daddy Honey!"

Kait continued to clumsily walk over to them but surprised them both by walking completely past them. She walked just next to Reyna and picked up her teddy bear.

Kait fell onto her bottom and hugged her teddy bear, gurgling with happiness. "She ignored us both," Reyna said in shock.

"For her bear," Diaz said, also surprised. They both looked at each other and started laughing. Diaz picked up Kait, who joined in on the laughter, and Reyna hugged them both.

* * *

"Mama."

Reyna gasped and looked at her daughter, not believing what she heard. "What did you say Kaitie?" she asked.

"Mama," Kait said, laughing. She had said a few words before, with her first one being 'teddy,' but this was entirely new.

"Diaz! Get in here!" Diaz then ran into the room, nervous.

"What happened?!" he exclaimed, holding a pistol in his hand.

"Please tell me the safety is on on that thing," Reyna said, concerned.

"Of course it is. Now what happened?"

Reyna then turned her attention back to Kait and said, "Say it again Honey."

"Mama!" Kait gurgled, laughing.

Reyna looked at Diaz with a smug look and he stood there, shocked. "Kitty Kat, can you say 'Dada?'" Diaz asked.

Kait stared at her father and gurgled, "Dada!"

"What a big girl!" Reyna exclaimed, picking her daughter up.

"Our little Kitty Kat is really growing up!" Diaz exclaimed, kissing his daughter on the cheek.

Reyna chucked to herself and sighed. "Yeah, really growing up."_  
_

* * *

"_Despite her mother's warning, and the calls of her friends, Romily left the safe company of her friends and walked into the perils of the forest_," Diaz read from his book. Kait was hiding under her bed sheets, scared of the story.

Diaz smiled at his daughter and continued, "_She thought they would admire her independence, and respect her brave willingness to break ranks with the others. But she did not walk alone. The six-legged demon that had waited patiently beneath her house since birth followed her, unseen, and joined the rest of his kind who rose from the depths to embrace her._"

Kait unburrowed herself from the blanket and said, "That story is scary Daddy."

"I know Kitty Kat, but it's a great one. _Romily_ teaches us to not be disobedient or else something bad will happen."

Reyna chuckled as she walked up behind her husband and planted a kiss on his cheek, making Kait squeal in protest. "But now we don't have to worry about scary creatures under us," Reyna said, kissing her daughter on the forehead. "The Locust are gone, and we don't have to worry about them anymore. Don't be disobedient Kaitie, but always be adventurous. Okay Honey?"

"Okay Mommy," Kait said as she yawned and closed her eyes.

Diaz and Reyna left the room quietly and Diaz asked, "Why did you tell her that _Romily_ isn't a good story anymore?"

"Because it really isn't," Reyna responded. "That story doesn't work anymore since the Locust are gone."

"Yeah, but you don't tell a kid that."

"Sorry. Besides, I was never the biggest fan of that story."

"Why not?"

Reyna realized what she had said and realized she had backed herself into a corner. "Uhh…" Reyna said, scrambling for an excuse. "I just never liked it that much. I think the message is kind of muddled. The story is essentially teaching that we should always obey our elders and never think independently for ourselves. You don't think that's a bad message?"

"Huh, never thought about it that way," Diaz said, chuckling awkwardly. "When did you get so smart? Must have been from your parents."

Reyna laughed and said quietly so he couldn't hear her, "If only you knew."

**This chapter was mainly written to be a passage of time kind of thing. To show how Kait was raised as a smaller child, away from the technology and advantages of growing up in the COG. **

**And just as an FYI, the story that Diaz reads to his daughter is an old Tyran folk tale mentioned in a few of the novels. I thought it would be cool to be used as a story Diaz grew up with, but Myrrah taught Reyna to despise it. **

**And for some age references, Kait is around 6 months during the lullaby scene, 14 months during the second cutscene, around 2 years old in the third cutscene, and around 6 in the last cutscene.**

**And as a last note, the song I used was **_**The Wanderer's Lullaby **_**by Adriana Figueroa. Thank you to one of my friends for showing me the song about a year ago. Once I thought that Reyna would sing a song to Kait that Myrrah had sung to her, I realized that this was the perfect song to use. **


	19. Settlement 2

**Okay, the last few chapters have been cute fluff, but now for a more serious one. **

"Happy Birthday Kait!" Oscar, Reyna and Diaz all exclaimed. Kait smiled as she blew out the single candle on her small birthday cake. She knew her family had spent weeks gathering the ingredients to make it, even raiding a COG Settlement, and she was happy for it.

As they all ate a piece of the small cake, each of her family members handed her a present. "Here you go Kait," Oscar said, handing his niece a small box wrapped in faded white paper.

Kait opened it up and saw a bottle of pink hair dye and smiled. She had been talking about dyeing the end of her hair but didn't actually think she would be able to. "Got it when we went to go raid Settlement 1," Oscar said as Kait hugged him.

"Thank you Uncle," Kait said, smiling. Reyna glared at Oscar jokingly while Diaz shook his head.

Reyna then handed her daughter a large box wrapped in gray paper and Kait eagerly opened it. She pulled out a brown leather jacket and smiled as she put it on. She hugged Reyna and said, "Perfect fit! Thanks Mom!"

Reyna hugged her now sixteen year old daughter back and watched as Diaz handed her the final present, a medium sized box wrapped in faded blue paper. "Here you go Kitty Kat," Diaz said, smiling.

Kait opened the present and saw a burgundy beanie. She immediately took it out of the box and put it on, adjusting her bangs so she could see. "I love it!" Kait exclaimed, hugging her father. "Thank you Dad!"

As she hugged her father, Kait pulled away and asked, "You know what I wanted most of all for my birthday, though?"

"What Kitty Kat?"

"To go with you guys tomorrow."

"Kaitie, not this again!" Reyna groaned, looking her daughter in the eyes. "Look, we already agreed you aren't ready for your first raid yet. Maybe if it was an abandoned COG village, but not what the main group is doing. It's too dangerous."

What Reyna was talking about exactly was a plan the Outsiders had conducted. They had raised several abandoned COG facilities in the past, but were getting desperate for new technology. It had been both Reyna and Diaz's idea to raid one of the new COG Settlements, Settlement 2. Kait had been begging to go on this raid, but both her parents refused because of how dangerous the mission was.

"Mom, I'm sixteen!" Kait exclaimed. "I know how to shoot a gun! You know I've been taking lessons!"

"For only a month! One month of training won't make you able to defend yourself from waves of trained soldiers and even robots programmed to stop you!"

"Your mother's right Kitty Kat," Diaz said. "I would let you go if you had a bit more training. Next time, alright? I promise you can go on our next raid whenever we need it, as long as it isn't too dangerous. Okay?"

"Fine," Kait said, giving up. She knew that when both of her parents sided together, she would always loose. There were times when she and her dad would agree and team up on Reyna, but those were few and far between.

"Okay, now that that's settled, let's eat some more cake!" Oscar exclaimed, making everybody laugh.

* * *

The next day, a group of Outsiders, including Oscar and Diaz, were standing outside of a large cart with two horses attached to pull it. Reyna kissed her husband passionately and said, "Please be careful."

"We will Reyna," he said, hugging her. "I promise."

He then looked at Kait and said, "I'm sorry you can't go Kitty Kat."

"It's alright," Kait said as she hugged her father. "But please, be safe Dad."

"I will. I promise I'll come back perfectly safe. Okay?"

"Okay."

He then climbed onto the front of the cart, grabbing the reins. Oscar sat next to him as a literal shotgun with an old Retro Lancer in his arms, ready to protect the cart.

Diaz looked at his wife and daughter one last time before yelling, "Hyah!" He whipped the reins and the horses started running away from the village.

Reyna and Kait stayed outside, watching the cart until it a no longer visible. "Do you think they'll be alright Mom?" Kait asked.

"I hope so Sweetie," Reyna said, putting an arm around her daughter. "I hope so."

* * *

Four days later, Kait was standing on the main road, staring at where the cart had left.

"Mom, it's been four days," Kait said, still looking at the road. "They should have been back by now."

"Now Kaitie, you know that Settlement 2 is at least a day away," Reyna said, trying not to sound nervous. By the way Kait was looking at her, she was failing.

"Then they should have been back by now! If it took them a day to get there and a day to get back, then they should have been back by yesterday at the latest! Where are they?"

"I don't know. But I'm sure they're fine. Your father and uncle used to be Gears, remember? I'm sure they're alright."

Reyna was actually lying between her teeth, similar to what Myrrah had done to her. Reyna knew her daughter deserved the truth, but how could she say she thought they might be dead?

Just as they turned to walk back into the village, the sound of hooves on dirt could be heard. They both turned around and saw the cart, this time being driven by Oscar.

"Uncle!" Kait yelled, running towards the cart.

"Woah!" Oscar shouted, making the horses stop as he pulled the reins back.

Reyna ran to the cart as well and stopped with a gasp. There was only one other person on the cart besides Oscar, a teenager that Reyna had never seen before.

"Uncle, where's Dad?" Kait asked, concerned.

Oscar said nothing but had a somber expression on his face, something neither of them had ever seen. "Oscar, where is everybody?" Reyna asked, afraid she already knew the answer.

"It was an ambush," Oscar said. "It was like they knew we were coming. Nobody else made it out. I'm sorry."

Kait gasped and Reyna asked the question she was dreading. "Diaz?"

"Dead."

Kait sobbed and leaned into her mother's chest, crying. Reyna held back tears as well and heard Kait say quietly, "Daddy."

Reyna then looked back at the teenager and asked, "Who is this?"

"His name's Gary Carmine," Oscar said, his voice laced with sadness and pain. "His dad was killed during the ambush. He was a Gear."

"How dare you show your face here you traitor!" Kait shouted as she lunged away from her mother and towards Carmine, her face red with tears running down her cheeks.

"Wait a minute!" the teenager exclaimed, voice sounding full of sadness like Oscar's. "I have no more loyalty to the COG. They killed my dad too. But I did bring these."

He then gestured to the cart. Reyna and Kait looked in and saw guns neither of them had ever seen. There were several assorted guns, including Hammerbursts that Reyna quickly recognized.

The most, though, was a gun neither of them had ever seen. It was yellow with exhaust vents on the sides with a drill bit in the front rather than a normal frontsight. Reyna picked it up and saw even the aim was different, shaping similar to a human body. "What is this?" she asked, examining the gun.

"It's called a Dropshot," Carmine explained. "My dad invented it. He was the CEO of Carmine Construction Co. It's supposed to be shot into the ground to drill down with an explosion, but it can be a pretty deadly normal gun. The COG used these things to hide away some of the Locust remains."

Reyna looked at the teenager and saw a sadness in his eyes that proved he was telling the truth, that he really had lost someone close to him. "Alright, you can stay," Reyna said.

Gary nodded and walked towards one of the horses, patting it gently. "Come on buddy," he said, undoing the harnesses on the horse.

Once Gary was out of hearing range, the family of three hugged together and all sobbed, mourning the loss of a great man.

A brother, husband, and father.

**Grr, I don't like writing sad stuff! But, I knew this was coming. In** _**Gears of War 4, **_**they heavily imply that Kait's dad died somehow, and I believe this is how. They continue to bring up an issue from Settlement 2 that rubbed both the COG and the Outsiders the wrong way. The COG lost a Delta Squad family member, the 4th Carmine brother that has yet to be seen. This also explains why there is a fourth Carmine in the opening to the campaign who lives with the Outsiders. And the Outsiders lost not only their leader, but several other people too, which also says why JD and Del claim that the Outsiders don't have many people who can fight; they all died at Settlement 2.**


	20. Training

Two weeks later, Reyna rolled over in bed, miserable. She still couldn't bring herself to sleep in the middle of the bed. She still slept on her side, waiting for Diaz to sleep on the other side.

Once she was dressed, Reyna walked out of her bedroom and towards Kait's. She knocked on the door and was surprised that the door creaked open. Kait had been staying in her room more and more, grieving. As Reyna thought about it, she could count the number of times Kait left her room for anything besides food or the bathroom on one hand.

But once Reyna opened the door, there was nobody in the room.

Once Reyna left the private living quarters, she ducked as she heard gunshots. When she didn't see bullets, however, she got up and walked over to the shooting range where the Outsiders were supposed to learn how to shoot.

She saw Oscar, touching a girl, supposedly correcting her form, and Reyna looked at the girl. She then realized that that girl was her daughter, Kait. Reyna almost didn't recognize her. That small, petite girl was nowhere to be seen. The end of her hair was now dyed pink and she wore her father's hat. Reyna also noticed a tattoo on her arm, but she would scold her about that later.

Kait and Oscar were both facing a wooden target shaped like a person and Reyna heard Oscar scolding. "Kait, how many times do I have to say it?! Shoulders square and feet shoulder length apart!"

Kait rolled her eyes slightly and got into the stance her uncle said. She carefully aimed at the rifle in her arms at the target and Reyna quickly moved out of the way. Kait pulled the trigger and missed the target by a solid two feet, the bullets soaring over the target's head.

"You forgot to aim Kaitie," Reyna said, walking up next to her daughter. Kait jumped, but luckily her finger was no longer on the trigger.

Kait looked at her mom and smiled a bit, the first time she had done so since the Settlement 2 incident. "Alright, square up again," Oscar said.

"Why are you two training now?" Reyna asked.

"Well, she never got to finish her training with her dad," Oscar said. "I feel that she should finish with me."

Reyna smiled. Oscar was never the emotional type, so seeing him do something like this really touched Reyna.

They both then looked at Kait as she squared up to shoot again. Reyna noticed her shoulders were squared directly at the target and her shoulders were slightly hunched. Reyna knew that this was how Gear soldiers were trained to stand, but she also knew that Gears had armor and things to prevent bullets from hitting them in that open stance.

Oscar had a long stick in his hand and had it to move Kait's feet so they were shoulder length apart. Reyna knew this was for better balance, but it also left Kait perfectly exposed for someone to jump her.

"Ready, and...fire!" Oscar yelled at Kait. Kait pulled the trigger and managed to hit the target this time, with the bullets barely hitting the shoulder blade.

Kait looked back at Oscar for advice and he took a swig from the flask attached to his belt and shook his head. "Come on!" he exclaimed at her. "A blind man could have hit that target! Watch and learn!"

He grabbed the rifle from Kait and Reyna stepped between them. "Do you really think it's a good idea to shoot a loaded rifle after you just had a drink?" she asked, attempting and failing to grab the gun from him.

"Relax, they're dummy rounds! Do you really think I'm dumb enough to give someone who doesn't know how to shoot a loaded gun?"

Both Reyna and Kait opened their mouths to answer and Oscar said, "Don't answer that question."

Oscar then lined up facing the target and got into the same stance he had taught Kait and pulled the trigger. Kait watched in awe as the bullet hit square in the forehead. "See? Easy!" Oscar gloated.

Reyna rolled her eyes at Oscar's arrogance and he looked at her with a smug look on his face. "We'll continue tomorrow," he told Kait. "I need a drink."

Once Oscar was out of hearing distance, Reyna turned to her daughter and said, "As good of a shot as your Uncle is, he's a terrible teacher. Do you want me to help you?"

"Yes please," Kait said. "I'm tired of being shouted at by Uncle. And I think he's got some things wrong."

"You're absolutely right about that." Reyna gently grabbed Kait's shoulders and put her into a diagonal stance. "This stance leaves you less open to enemy fire. Your uncle's stance works great if you have armor protecting you, which none of us do."

She also pushed Kait down a bit and said, "Bend your knees slightly. This helps you stay balanced after the recoil. Now aim and fire."

Kait looked through the scope of the gun she was holding and was aimed at the target. She pulled the trigger and smiled as the bullets hit the target in the chest this time. "Much better!" Reyna exclaimed, hugging her daughter once the gun was lowered.

"Thanks Mom," Kait said, hugging her back.

"Now get into your stance and do it again."

* * *

For the next several weeks, Kait was trained by both her mother and her uncle. Oscar was a very impatient teacher who never fully explained his techniques and often yelled at Kait for things he never told her about. And while training Kait, Oscar also trained Gary Carmine. Being under the age of eighteen, Gary never got to train with the COG, so Oscar taught him from scratch. But because Oscar was such an impatient teacher, the only thing Gary learned was how to shoot a wall mounted turret.

Reyna, on the other hand, was a completely different story. When she wasn't busy managing the village now that Diaz was gone, she was usually found training Kait. Reyna was an incredibly patient teacher who taught her daughter to shoot exactly how she was taught. Kait had turned into an excellent shot, but Oscar would always yell that she was standing incorrectly. She had even practiced with a few of the sniper rifles Gary had brought with him.

One day, Oscar was watching Reyna and Kait as Reyna put her daughter into her stance. Oscar could not understand why Reyna taught her to stand this way. He had never seen anyone shoot like that, except-

Oscar looked one last time and, sure enough, Kait was standing exactly like how a Locust soldier would stand. Oscar wondered where Reyna could have learned that shooting style. Oscar had an idea but quickly dismissed it. This was Reyna, his sister in law, the wife to his deceased brother and mother of his niece. There was no way on Sera she could be a Locust heir, was there?

Once Kait successfully hit the target in the head, Reyna smiled and said, "I think you're good for the day Kaitie."

"Thanks Mom," Kait said, turning to leave.

"Wait a minute. Before you go, I wanted to give you something."

She handed Kait a book and Kait looked at it, confused. Kait had always been a bookworm, but she was confused by the title. _King Raven Intermediate Maintenance Manual _by the COG Engineering Corps. "What is this?" Kait asked.

"Read the inscription."

Kait looked at the inscription and covered her mouth. She then read aloud, "_Kaitie, Your father wrote this book long before you were born. Not many copies left out there. The text is a bit dry but...reading this, I can still feel him somehow. I can't think of a person he'd more want to have this. Love, Mom._"

Kait's eyes had welled up with tears and she hugged her mother, crying inrush her chest. "Thank you," she said. "I'll cherish this forever."

Reyna hugged her daughter until Kait eventuality pulled away and wiped the tears from her eyes. She finally left and Oscar approached her. "That was big of you," he told her. "Giving Kait that book."

"I felt Diaz would have wanted her to have it," Reyna told him. "Is that all you're here for?"

"Not exactly. I've been meaning to ask. Where did you learn to shoot like that?"

Reyna immediately froze up, thinking of the best way to answer that question. "Uh...what do you mean?"

"I've never seen anybody stand like that before. Who taught you?"

"My family taught me."

"Your family of scientists on Azura?"

"Not my parents. But some guys that works with my parents taught be how to shoot." It wasn't a complete lie, but it was far from the truth.

"I've never seen anybody shoot with that type of stance before. What were their names?"

"Uh...it was so many different guys, I don't remember their names that well."

"Alright. We better get back to town. We have a meeting today."

As they walked away, Oscar eyed Reyna. He knew she was lying, but couldn't figure out why. Besides, he had known Reyna for over sixteen years. There was absolutely no change she had kept a secret from him this whole time.

Right?

**A bit of an uneventful chapter by my standards, but I still enjoyed writing it. This actually focuses on a few things from the campaign. First, how Kait says Oscar taught her how to fight and how he's lucky still speaks with him. Second, how Oscar said he has taught Gary Carmine everything he knows. Third, how Kait had said that she was taught to fight by both her uncle and her mother. I modeled the way that Oscar shoots after the squared and athletic stance for firing a rifle taught at the U.S. Shooting Academy. I modeled how Reyna shoots after consulting various images and videos of the Locust fighting throughout the course of the game.**

**And as a final note, the book that Reyna gives Kait is an Easter Egg in the Campaign right before the Outsider and COG fight scene. The inscription on the book is actually what the description of the Easter Egg says.**


	21. New Friends

Almost one year later, Reyna was standing on the outskirts of the village with Kait, waiting for Oscar and his cart to return. He had gone on a small ride, patrolling around the village.

"Can we go and shoot a bit while we're waiting for Uncle?" Kait asked.

"I don't think we need to," Reyna said. "You know how to shoot now and even went on a few raids with Oscar and Gary. Besides, we shouldn't be wasting ammo."

They both then heard the sound of hooves clacking on the ground and saw the cart with Oscar sitting in the driver's seat. "Nothing Oscar?" Reyna asked as he got out of the cart.

"Well, not exactly nothing," he said as two more figures stepped off of the cart. Reyna had no idea who they were, but immediately knew where they came from. A tall, muscular build and a body indicating that they had had more than the small portions given to other Outsiders or even COG civilians. These two were Gears.

The second they stepped out of the cart, Reyna was in front of them, hands gripped firmly on her knives. "Who are you two?" she asked, her words laced with venom.

"My name's JD," the first one, the one with creme skin and dirty blonde hair, said. "This is my friend Del." He then gestured to his dark skinned friend with black hair that stuck up in all directions.

"Where did you two come from?" Reyna tightened her grip on her knives and JD immediately noticed.

"Please, Ma'am, we're former Gears. We need a place to stay."

"Get out of my sight before I cut your heads off. We don't take any former COG. Leave."

"Wait!" Del exclaimed, holding his hands up. "Please, let us explain!"

"You have one minute. Don't say something stupid."

"Alright," JD said, trying to keep his vice at an even tone. "My name is James Dominic Fenix, or JD for short. This is my best friend Delmont Walker."

Reyna heard his last name and immediately froze up. She had known the last name Fenix for so many different things. Adam Fenix, who opened her eyes to what it means to be human, who taught her most of what she knew. And then there was Marcus Fenix, the son Adam sacrificed everything for.

Reyna would have respected Marcus if it wasn't for an article she read when she lived with the COG: _Locust Defeated! Queen Myrrah stabbed to death by hero Marcus Fenix, leader of Delta Squad. _

Once Reyna read that, she grew to hate the name of Fenix. And she had no doubt who this particular Fenix was. The person standing in front of her was the son of the man who killed her mother and the grandson of the man who killed her species.

"Leave, now," Reyna said, pulling her knife out.

"Mom!" Kait exclaimed, holding her mother's hand back. "All they said were their names!"

"That's all I needed to hear."

"Please, let us finish!" Del exclaimed.

Reyna sighed and said, "Fine. Continue."

"We came from Settlement 2."

Reyna held a knife to Del's throat and said, "Choose your next words very carefully."

"Uh…" Del trailed off, looking at Kait for help. Kait was now glaring at him too, memories of her father fueling her hatred.

"Ma'am, please!" JD exclaimed, trying to calm Reyna down. Reyna looked over to him and JD took a deep breath. "Look, we didn't mean for the Settlement 2 incident to even happen. That was all Jinn. She was sick of the Outsiders raiding COG technology, and she decided to act on it. She had the DeeBees programed to use lethal force and they did.

"She didn't just kill Outsiders, though. The DeeBees were programed to shoot on sight, and that's what they did. They killed a lot of COG citizens who were trying to stop them. They even killed a few Gears.

"After that, Del and I were disgusted by the COG, and so were a lot of other Gears. We were the only ones that acted on it. We ran away, and now we're enemies of the state. Please, we have nowhere else to go."

Reyna narrowed her eyes at him and said, "Listen here Soldier Boy. My husband and almost half of our citizens died at Settlement 2, and I refuse to let some soldiers who took part in that operation into our town. Leave. Now."

"Mom!" Kait exclaimed, stepping between them. "Why can't we let them stay?"

"Kaitie, weren't you listening? These two are part of the reason your father is dead! Why would you want them to stay?!"

"Their story sounds a lot like yours and Dad's. You two both hated the COG for the things they did and fled, only to get tossed out by another village. What makes them any different?"

"My answer is no Kaitie. Besides, for all we know, these two are COG spies and could have made up that whole story."

"We didn't Ma'am," Del said. "Please, help us."

Another Outsider, a teenage boy named Eli ran up to Reyna and asked, "Ma'am, are we still on for the raid tomorrow?"

"Are you two planning to raid another COG city?" JD asked.

"What's it to you kid?" Oscar asked, glaring at the two as well.

"Look, the only thing Jinn took from that incident was that the Outsiders are an even bigger threat than the Stranded. She told all Gears that if they ever even see an Outsider to shoot on sight. The DeeBees are programmed to do the exact same thing."

Reyna was surprised by this statement and turned to Eli. "No, we're not proceeding. In fact, I want you and a couple others going to the neighboring towns to inform them that there will be no more raids until further notice. Understood?"

"Yes Ma'am!" Eli exclaimed before running off.

"Thank you for the warning," Reyna said.

"No problem Ma'am," JD said. "We didn't want any more lives to be lost due to the corrupt COG."

He and Del turned to leave when Kait yelled, "Stop!"

Everybody turned and looked at Kait, and Reyna immediately asked, "What are you doing?"

"Mom, if they really were COG spies, they would have let us raid the Settlement, told Jinn, and then had us all killed. They just saved us. I think we can trust them."

Reyna looked at Del and JD and grabbed JD by the collar of his shirt. "Don't make me regret taking you in," she told him roughly.

JD nodded and looked over at Kait. "Thank you," he said, his voice filled with awe. Reyna looked at the way he was staring at her daughter and saw Kait was looking at him the same way. The way she and Diaz looked at each other.

Reyna glared at JD and whispered quietly so nobody could hear her except him, "Don't even think about it. You're lucky I'm letting you stay here, but if you go after my daughter, I will shoot you myself."

JD's eyes widened and he quickly nodded his head. "Come on!" Kait exclaimed, walking up to him and grabbing him by the arm. "I'll give you a tour of the village."

JD chuckled as he was pulled away. Reyna glared at him and Oscar came up behind her. He watched as the group of three walked away and he told Reyna, "You can't keep her from growing up you know."

"Yeah, but I can try my best."

**Another small chapter with not a lot happening, but oh well. I finally got to when JD and Del enter the village. I even grabbed some of the dialogue from my first **_**Gears of War **_**story, mostly because I couldn't think of a better way to write this scene. The reason that I had Reyna threatening JD is because, according to articles published about **_**Gears of War 4**_**, Reyna isn't happy that JD and Kait are together, and I can see her reasoning. Reyna obviously wouldn't want her daughter together with the son of the man who killed her mother and the grandson of the man who killed her species. **


	22. Taken

Another year later, Reyna paced nervously back and forth, worried out of her mind. Oscar and Kait, along with JD and Del, were partaking in the first Outsider raid in over a year in order to get power for the village.

When she heard the sound of hooves on dirt, she waited as the cart pulled up, and saw that the four people she had sent were still in one piece.

She walked up to the horse, Chuzz, and patted him on the muzzle and said, "Thank god you're safe. I was just about to head to Settlement 5 myself."

"We, uh, we hit a few snags," Kait said.

Reyna felt immense fear at this statement, but refused to show any sign of it. "What happened?"

"The short version? The COG is on its way," Oscar said, making Reyna even more nervous. JD and Del had assured her that they could easily steal a fabricator without provoking Jinn. They needed the fabricator desperately to power the village, and now they were about to pay the price for it.

"How long do we have?" Reyna asked, afraid to know the answer. Almost as if on cue, a giant helicopter, more commonly known as a Dropship, flew over the mountains surrounding the Outsider village.

The Dropship dropped a blue hexagonal ball and Reyna sighed as the ball exploded to reveal First Minister Jinn's personal Shepherd bot, complete with a screen that showed her face.

Reyna walked up to it and told the others, "I'll greet our guest."

The bot and Reyna were face to face and Reyna said bitterly, "First Minister."

"Reyna," the Jinn-bot said. "I am here for my people. Stand aside."

"You're out of your jurisdiction First Minister."

"So, here's what happens next. Anyone who resists COG justice will be dealt with."

"Like Settlement 2?"

"That's your choice."

"You're forgetting one thing."

"Oh! And what's that?

Reyna then unsheathed both of her knives and cut across the chest of the bot, making sparks fly as Jinn's connection was lost. She kicked the bot away as it fell to the ground.

Reyna then said bitterly, "This isn't Settlement 2."

"Okay!" Del exclaimed. "Good meeting."

"Oh it's not over. You two go grab the fabricator and follow me." She gestured to JD and Kait as another Dropship could be heard overhead. She then yelled to the person arming the wall mounted turret, "Carmine!"

Bullets flew and hit the helicopter as it exploded in midair and fell to the ground. The entire group, minus Reyna, watched in awe as the bird fell to the ground, Oscar feeling immensely proud of his pupil.

Reyna had started walking away, yelling orders to everybody. She knew what was coming, but she was absolutely ready for it all.

* * *

Once the firefight was over and she had told the group of three to restore the power to the village, she went into her private living quarters. She knew that another group of DeeBees were eventually coming, but they were ready for all of it.

They had lost the archive of books Diaz had salvaged from Jacinto, and Kait was incredibly sad about this. Reyna had been at the time as well, but there was nothing she could do about it. That was in the past, and she needed to look ahead to the future.

As Reyna thought this, she realized how much she was sounding like her mother and considered the irony. Ever since she was a little girl, Reyna had dreamed of growing up and leading an army against the COG, and that was exactly what she was doing. The former princess had no doubt her mother would have been furious that her daughter was leading a group of humans after her human husband had died and left her with their human daughter.

As Reyna thought about this, she picked up a piece of crystal on her desk. It was the same piece of crystal that had been on Adam Fenix's desk, the crystals of the Lambent mouse he had experimented on.

As she studied the crystal, Reyna sighed. She had had hope long ago that the Locust would eventually return, that they would burst out of their crystals and hail her as their new leader.

But it has been twenty five years. Whatever hope Reyna had that her subjects would come back had all but died. And, now that she thought about it, Reyna wasn't sure she wanted them back. She had been next in line to lead a species of genocidal monsters under the guise that they were in the right, due to the lies Queen Myrrah told her.

Reyna then took her necklace in her hands and sighed. She studied the ornament and wondered why she had never removed it. The necklace was nothing but a reminder that Reyna would never be fully human, that there was always a part of her that was Locust.

But the necklace was also a reminder of every single lie her mother had ever told her. That the humans were wrong, that they had a remote chance of winning this war. Reyna grimaced at the necklace and tucked it back under her shirt, not wanting to see it. She also debated removing the skirt tied around her waist that she had worn the day the Locust were killed, but decided against it.

She looked at her arm and studied her tattoos. The tattoos had been given to her by Oscar when Kait was still young. He had insisted it was a Diaz family tradition to eventually get a tattoo somewhere on their arms. Reyna had drawn this symbol and asked if Oscar was up to the challenge. She had never told anybody that if you unscrambled the writing, it was the lullaby Myrrah had taught her in Locust script.

Kait had a tattoo on her arm as well, much to Reyna's dismay. Reyna had been almost thirty when she was given this tattoo, but Kait was merely sixteen. She got it just after her father died, and lied to Oscar to get it. He asked her if Reyna had said yes, which she didn't.

As Reyna examined her tattoo, the crystal she had set down started to shake. Reyna got up from her chair and slowly backed away. The crystal exploded and Reyna ducked behind her bed.

Where the crystal once was there now stood a large mouse with crystals on its tail. The mouse was now larger than any mouse Reyna had ever seen and looked much more vicious.

The mouse lunged out at her and Reyna quickly used her knife to cut it in half, ending the mouse's life.

Reyna then thought about what JD and Del had said angered Jinn so much and Reyna realized what was happening.

"_Jinn accused us of 'taking' her people," _JD had explained.

Reyna had just regarded that as an off handed remark, more to save their own skin than anything. But now she realized exactly what was happening to the missing Gears and COG civilians that Jinn had mentioned.

Reyna knew, right then and there, that the Locust were back.

* * *

Reyna ran out of her room and immediately sounded the alarms. Oscar came running to her and asked, "Reyna?! What the hell are you doing?!"

"We need to evacuate immediately," Reyna said, struggling to maintain an even voice, for her worrying was getting the best of her.

"If this is about Jinn, relax. We have more than enough to take her on."

"It's not about that. We need to leave now. We can't stay."

"Why? What the hell is going on?!"

"You need to trust me Oscar."

"No! I'm sick of this shit! You've been keeping something from me and my brother since the day we met you! Spill it now!"

"Oscar, I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Yes you do! I'm sick of all this bullshit! Tell me the truth or I'm leaving! Why do you shoot like that?! Who were your parents?!"

Reyna sighed and said, "If I tell you, you can't tell a soul. Understand?"

Oscar nodded and Reyna sighed again. "You're right," she told him. "I haven't been completely honest with you. I never grew up on Azura. I grew up in the Hollows."

Oscar's mouth fell open and he stared at her, jaw hanging. After a minute, Oscar asked, "Why the hell were you in the Hollows?"

"Because that's where my family was."

"You lived with those Stranded who lived down in the Hollows?!"

"Not exactly. Look, let me say this a different way. My mother's name was Myrrah."

Oscar's mouth fell open again and he stared at her in shock, unable to form words. "Myrrah?" he was funfair able to ask. "As in, Queen Myrrah?"

Reyna nodded slowly and Oscar stood there, unable to say anything. "I was next in line to rule the Locust after my mother. I am the Locust Princess."

"Princess?" Oscar asked, his voice sounding like he couldn't believe what he just heard.

"Yes, now you need to listen. You know those crystals that formed around the Locust?"

Oscar nodded and Reyna continued. "Those aren't just there to look pretty," she explained. "I talked to Adam Fenix during my time on Azura. He explained that these crystals were acting as somewhat of a cocoon. The Locust aren't truly dead. They're hibernating. And their hibernation just ended. They're coming. We need to leave now."

Once again, Oscar was at a loss for words until he finally said, "How the hell do you even know they're coming?"

"This." Reyna then showed him the crystals that had been around the mouse. "This was similar to a timer. When this exploded, the Locust were back. And it just exploded. And don't you remember what Jinn said? COG people have been disappearing. This might be why. The Locust are taking them and the COG doesn't even know."

Oscar then said, "How do we know that Jinn isn't just screwing with us?"

"Oscar, you need to trust me. But listen. When they come, they will come after me. I'm next in line to rule. So, when I'm taken, I need you to make sure Kait is safe. She'll be their next target if they find out about her. You need to keep her safe."

"What about you?"

Reyna looked down in despair. "I'm already gone."

Oscar thought about what she said and said, "No."

"No what?"

"You're not gone yet. My brother loved you, and even if you lied to us, I won't let you be taken. I owe that to him."

Reyna now had tears in her eyes and said, "Thank you Oscar. Now we need to evacuate."

They then heard the sound of clattering on the dirt road. The sound was too coordinated to be someone knocking something over and Reyna knew what was happening. She ran as quickly as she could to the power shed where JD, Del and Kait were restoring the power.

She saw something with a glowing red stomach dart in front of the shed and Reyna ducked, hoping it hadn't seen her. She was within earshot of the shed and saw that the power went on, only to go out seconds later.

Reyna watched as Kait ran into the shed to warn JD and Del and saw her opportunity. She heard Kait say, "Come on!" as she slammed the door shut, sealing them in.

Kait ran to the door and tried to push it open, but Reyna slammed it shut again. She looked at her daughter through the small opening, a look of worry on both of their faces. "Mom?" Kait asked.

Reyna held the door shut as she grabbed one of her knives and stuck it in the lock hole, locking the three of them in and keeping them safe. "Mom!" Kait exclaimed.

Reyna faced her frightened daughter and said, "Kait -listen. You need to hide, and then you need to run."

"What are you doing?!" Kait exclaimed.

"Kait, you have to listen-" Reyna was cut off as Kait saw something behind her.

"Mom!" Kait tried, but by the time the words passed her lips, Reyna felt a large hand closing in around her throat, picking her up.

The creature carried her away from the shed and Kait screamed again, "Mom!"

Reyna struggled in the creature's grasp but managed to use her second knife to cut off it's hand, freeing herself. She heard the villagers screaming but couldn't focus on any of them. Her main focus was on the creature in front of her.

She noticed that the creature had several crystals on its face and body and was growling menacingly at her. It ran at her and Reyna quickly sideswiped it with her knife. She heard screaming behind her and saw a creature with a glowing red stomach swallow one of the villagers.

The creature with the crystals saw she was distracted and hit her, causing Reyna to fall to the ground.

Reyna fell into a mud puddle and grasped her face, feeling where she was hit. The creature slowly walked towards her and she stuck her knife in his chest, making the creature fall back in pain.

Reyna pulled the knife back and attempted to stab the creature again, but it was ready this time and grabbed her by the wrist and spun her around, eventually throwing her into a barn.

Reyna groaned as she made contact with the wooden wall. Reyna tried crawling away from the creature, but could hear him walking up to her. She waited for it to grab her, but never felt anything. Through the ringing in her ears she heard shotgun shots and sat up. She saw Oscar, shooting the creature in the side and back with his gnasher.

"Reyna!" he yelled as the monster grabbed the gun and overpowered him. "Run!"

The creature threw Oscar to the ground and Reyna ran up behind it, stabbing it in the back. It backhanded her and she fell to the ground, her knife still in its back.

The creature pulled the knife from its back. Reyna saw Oscar crawling towards his gnasher, one arm clutched on his shoulder. The creature kicked him to the ground and used the knife to stab Oscar in the shoulder, making him shout with pain.

"Nooooooo!" Reyna yelled, extending her arm to Oscar in a futile attempt to save him.

The creature picked up Oscar again and threw him to the side, where another creature with a glowing red stomach swallowed him.

"Oscar," Reyna said quietly, voice laced with a combination of terror and sadness. Her brother in law, the brother of her deceased husband, one of the few humans she trusted. Gone.

The creature with crystals walked up towards Reyna, growling menacingly. Reyna attempted to crawl away, but didn't have the strength anymore. She crawled up to a pile of lumber and sat up, back against it. She grabbed her necklace once again and stared at it.

The only thing she could think was _You did this to me _as the creature picked her up, carrying her away from her new life, dragging her back to her old one.

**I finally got to write this chapter! This was one of the chapters I had been looking forward to since I started this story, which is part of the reason it's so long. But man, have I wanted to write about how Reyna gets taken to the cave where she was at the end of** _**Gears of War 4**_**. My main reason for wanting to write this so bad was ever since I started this story, I've been thinking about this idea and I kept editing it in my brain until I finally got to the part of the story where I could actually write about it. **

**Also, as a side note for anyone wondering about the ages in this story. Oscar is 58 in Gears of War 4 and Reyna is 42. Oscar is 33 after Gears of War 3. Diaz is around 21 or 22 when he meets Reyna. Reyna would be around 19 when she had Kait. Kait is 22.**


	23. Finale

**Yep. You read that right. This is the last chapter in the story. I've had so much fun writing it, but all good things must come to an end. Anyways, please enjoy! **

Reyna was carried away from her village for hundreds of miles, not even bothering to ask where she was being taken. She had figured that the Locust had found a way to get back underground, seeing as that's where their crystals were dumped.

So it was very shocking to her that she was being carried to a giant cavern. He carried her into a large cave and what Reyna saw made her gasp.

In the cave, near the entrance were several glowing red pods, and Reyna had no clue what was in them. There are also red vibes surrounding the walls, glowing and connected together, similar to the veins of a heart. But that wasn't what made Reyna gasp.

In front of her, in the middle of the cave, were several giant veins with smaller veins on top of them. The larger veins were covering something, and Reyna assumed it was whatever was making them glow.

She was gently set down on the ground and the creature that had carried her got down on one knee and bowed to her. "_Why am I here_? " Reyna asked him in Locust.

The creature tilted his head at her, as if he didn't understand. Reyna repeated, this time in Tyran, "Why am I here?"

"You are here to rule us my Queen," the creature said.

"You speak," Reyna marveled. She had never seen a Locust that could speak fluent Tyran, and if they did it was never in full sentences.

The creature nodded and said, "They call me the Speaker."

"Okay then Speaker," Reyna said, also not used to a Locust that had a name. "Why don't you know how to speak Locust tongue?"

"We are not Locust my Queen."

"But you are the creatures that we encased in crystals, aren't you?"

"We are my Queen. But we are something much greater than the Locust."

"Where did you come from?"

"The originals, the ones in the crystals, are called Scions. I am their leader, but you are still our Queen."

"Why do you need me? Why don't you rule each other?"

"We need a Queen to function. Without you, we are nothing."

"What if I refuse?"

"We have forceful means to make you cooperate."

Reyna thought about what he said, frightened. "Wait a second," she said. "What are you using those creatures with the glowing stomachs for?"

"They are used to spin the pods." The Speaker then gestured to the glowing pods surrounding the cave.

"What are the pods for?"

The Speaker opened his mouth but stopped when he heard one of the pods bubbling. "Watch," he said.

Reyna looked at the pod as it bubbled and eventually exploded, sending a strange gooey substance everywhere. There was a grayish white body in it, covered in small veins. The body rolled over and Reyna saw it had pure white eyes and was incredibly small.

It got up and pounced towards Reyna, but the Speaker held a hand out in front of it. "She is our Queen," he explained to the creature.

The small creature didn't seem to care and merely saw Reyna as another human and continued to claw at her. The Speaker grabbed it by the neck and snapped it in two, ending its short life.

Reyna looked at the small creature, horrified. "That used to be a human?" Reyna asked, horrified.

"Yes," the Speaker said. "They then climb down into Nests and turn into full soldiers. The smaller ones attack in groups."

"This is horrible! What happened to the Berserkers?! How you used to breed?!"

"We are not Locust. We must increase our size some other way."

"But this is wrong!" Reyna turned to leave, but the Speaker grabbed her by the arm.

"My Queen?" he asked.

"Let me go," Reyna said, her tone reminding her exactly of how Queen Myrrah used to command her subjects.

"We must serve you. You will lead us, one way or another."

Small veins from the heart came undone and latched themselves onto Reyna. Several of them wrapped around her body, and Reyna struggled to move. She attempted to detach one with her free hand but flinched in pain.

"Resistance is futile," the Speaker said. "Those veins are connected to your life force now. If you are released, you will die."

"What are you doing to me?!"

"What we must my Queen. You will eventually turn into a suitable Queen for us, or die."

Reyna struggled more but stopped as she felt a shooting pain from her arm where there was a vein attached.

The Speaker laughed at her menacingly and left the cave, leaving Reyna tethered to the heart.

As Reyna stood there, she started to hear voices. At first, she thought this was nothing but then realized that it was all of the people podded. Most were begging to be let out until their voices stopped, indicating their life had ended.

Some of the voices Reyna recognized were from the village, the Outsiders, struggling for breath. Reyna couldn't hear Oscar's voice, however, and hoped he was somehow safe.

As Reyna stood there longer, the voices started to fade away and she knew that none of the villagers made it out alive.

As Reyna stood there for several hours, almost half of the day, the Speaker returned to her and picked up her left arm, examining it. Reyna gasped both due to the pain it was causing her and at the sight of her limb. It had swollen significantly, but her fingers remained the same. The Speaker chuckled menacingly and said, "Mmm, good."

Reyna thrashed but stopped as she felt incredible pain through her arms and neck. The Speaker glared at her and said, "You must be important to those humans. Troops have spotted them storming into one of our bases. They have escaped with one of our podded humans who barely lived. They have discovered where you are and intend to save you. We will not allow them to."

"Kaitie," Reyna said quietly, before attempting to cover her mouth and flinching in pain.

"Ah, so you know one of them."

"No, please, don't hurt her!"

"Her. So the one you care for is female. Good. It's a shame that she must killed, but you will not be rescued."

The Speaker turned to leave and Reyna sighed, knowing she has dug herself into a hole. She hoped desperately that Kait wouldn't be hurt, but she knew that the Speaker and the rest of this new species would kill anything that even attempted to save her.

With no other option left, Reyna started sobbing, something she hadn't done since Diaz had died all those years ago. She sobbed and sobbed and wished she could move her arm to wipe her face.

As she sobbed for hours, she eventually closed her eyes, exhausted. When she opened them, she was not in the cave anymore.

She was looking through faded vision and saw as four soldiers approached her, all in full Gear armor. She attempted to crawl away towards a large gun, a Boomshot, but then felt as her legs were being dragged. "Not so fast," a familiar male voice said to her.

She was forcefully turned onto her back and saw that JD and Del were pulling her by the legs, glaring. Reyna then remembered how these creatures were all connected through the Hive mind that she was attached to and realized she was looking through the view of a Scion. Because it was missing a hand, it didn't take Reyna long to guess which one.

As JD and Del held shotguns at the Speaker's head, she could hear a very familiar voice. "You Swarm are all 'connected' right? In your hives," the voice said as the Speaker looked over. Reyna felt an immense wave of happiness as she saw Kait, glaring menacingly at it. Reyna noticed she was in armor too, but she would question her about that if she was rescued. The way Kait was glaring at the Speaker, Reyna no longer saw her scared little daughter that still missed her dad, but rather a strong confident woman who was willing to do anything to rescue her mother.

"Well then broadcast this," Kait said to the Speaker. "We're getting my mother back. And we're burning your goddamn hive to the fucking ground!" Kait them turned the Speaker's head towards her as she curb stomped it, ending whatever connection he had to the Hive.

As Reyna blinked her eyes, she was back in the cave, and couldn't feel more proud. Her daughter and her friends was coming to save her and wanted everyone to know it. She had killed the second in command behind Reyna and made her message clear.

But the thing that made her most happy was the fact that Kait was even alive. Reyna had been sure that Kait and her friends would have fought off the 'Swarm' as they liked to call it for a bit until finally being killed. It wasn't that she didn't believe in them, but there were so many Swarm that Reyna was sure that they would easily overwhelm the three of them.

But there weren't three of them. There was a fourth one with them. The Speaker said they had rescued him from another one of the Locust burial sites. And based on JD's last name, Reyna knew who it was and where Kait had gotten that armor. The fourth soldier with them was Marcus Fenix, the man who had killed her mother.

Reyna now realized that she was completely alone. The Speaker, while terrible company, was the only thing she could talk to. And, as much as she hated him for taking her from her new life, Reyna still missed having someone to talk to.

She tried to hear around for any new voice, but was met with nothing but complete silence. She tried to move her arm to look at her swollen limb, but screamed at how much the pain was hurting her.

Reyna sighed and closed her eyes again, hoping to see through the eyes of another Scion. When she couldn't, Reyna just stood there, miserable yet hopeful. There was a small chance she would be rescued, a small change she would be freed, a small chance that-

Reyna stopped her thoughts when she realized the issue with her being rescued. The Speaker had said to her very specifically, "_Those veins are connected to your life force now. If you are released, you will die._"

If her rescue ever did get there, they could do nothing. If they cut the veins, Reyna would die. Reyna knew that there was no way in hell that she would lead the Swarm into taking over the planet, succeeding where the Locust had failed. The Speaker had said, "_We need a Queen to function. Without you, we are nothing._"

If Reyna died, perhaps the species would die with her. Kait had revealed that they were indeed related, so they would probably go after her next. But Reyna knew what to do. She would tell her daughter everything that she had not over the years, every secret, every lie, all of it. Kait might hate her for keeping all these secrets, but Reyna had no choice.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of large stomps on the ground and the sound of a single helicopter's blades. She heard a loud roaring and knew that whatever the Swarm had put to guard her was fighting against the group.

The fight went on for several minutes, even though Reyna couldn't see it. She heard the creature utter a final roar the sound of the stomps ended.

Reyna heard eager bootsteps running towards her and knew that Kait and the others had beaten the monster.

Kait ran into view, a Lancer in her hand and her arms dropped at the sight of Reyna tethered to the heart. Kait had a look of both shock and terror on her face that Reyna couldn't even imagine feeling.

JD and Del both ran in after her and stopped as she said, "Oh my God."

Reyna's head was drooped down, too weak to move. She struggled for breath as she saw out of the corner of her eye that a fourth man, Marcus Fenix, walked up to Kait. Being tethered to the heart was quickly taking away all of Reyna's energy, and she had been there so long.

"You knew," Kait said, clearly choking back tears. "Didn't you?"

"Yes," Marcus said, voice sounding guilty. "But I didn't know we'd find this."

Reyna gave a raspy breath and looked up, showing Kait how her face had started to gray. She looked up at her daughter, her beautiful baby girl, and felt instant dread. All those years of lies, all those years of deception. For what?

Kait walked up to her mother, tears in her eyes. "If I'm released, I'll die," Reyna told Kait. "They've seen to that."

Reyna paused, both for breath and to give her daughter a change to react. Kait looked heartbroken, as if this whole journey was a waste. "Kaitie," Reyna said, saying her daughter's nickname for one last time. "Cut me loose. Please."

JD started approaching Kait and Reyna, also sad. "Reyna, please-" JD started until he was interrupted by Kait.

"JD," she said, putting a hand to his chest as he started to approach Reyna.

"-you can't ask her to-"

"Don't." Kait looked at JD, nodding her head slightly, tears still in her eyes. "Just let me say goodbye."

JD said nothing and walked away slowly before leaving the cave with the others. Kait held a small knife in her hand and stared down at it, unsure if she should or even could continue.

She gently grabbed Reyna's braid, looking at the ornamental piece in it like she had before. It had been tradition between mother and daughter to always keep their hair on their shoulders and Kait had to adjust it, one final time.

She looked at Reyna's free hand, the one not mutated, and saw she was holding something. Kait turned her hands over and saw it was the necklace that Myrrah had given to her daughter all those years ago.

Kait looked at it, tears now streaming down her face and looked at her mother, shocked she had taken it off. "Take it," Reyna said, voice incredibly weak.

Kait leaned forward and softly kissed her mother on the cheek. Reyna's head was now down and watched as Kait took the necklace.

Kait carefully walked towards Reyna and put her knife on one of the veins before cutting it.

Reyna gasped from the pain and Kait sobbed. "Again," Reyna said weakly.

Kait shook her head no and Reyna looked at her daughter. Kait was now sobbing and Reyna knew that she would never live with herself if she left her mother in this awful place. "It's okay," Reyna assured Kait.

Kait sobbed and cut another vein, making Reyna gasp again. Kait continued sobbing as she cut the veins. When there were only two left, Kait stopped to examine the necklace and gasped at the symbol on the back. "What…?" she asked quietly.

She looked back up at her mother who was struggling to even breath and Reyna slowly looked up at her. "I'm sorry," Reyna said.

Kait tucked the necklace away and cut the last two veins, sobbing as she did so.

Once the last vein was cut, Reyna closed her eyes. When she opened them, she was no longer facing her sobbing daughter asking to be killed, but in an empty white void. A figure started walking towards her and Reyna gasped at who it was. Shaggy hair, crystal blue eyes and a tall, muscular build.

Diaz.

Reyna ran up to him and pulled him in for a long, embracing hug as she sobbed into his chest. He smiled at her as he gently stroked her hair.

Reyna finally pulled away from him, tears still in her eyes and he held out his hand to her.

Reyna hesitated before taking it. He smiled at her again and guided her with him, into a bright light.

As she walked with Diaz, Reyna thought about her whole life, every good and every bad moment. And as she continued to walk, she felt something she hadn't felt for quite some time.

Peace.

**THE END**

***sniff sniff* I'm not crying, you're crying! But, seriously, thank you all so much for reading this story. It was so much fun to write it and I actually put several other stories on hold due to how much I enjoyed writing this. I'm sad that it's over, but all things must come to an end. **

**And, holy smokes was this thing long! My page counter says that this story was exactly one hundred and thirteen pages, which is absolutely nuts! With 23 total chapters, this is easily the longest sorry I have ever written, and I enjoyed every sentence I wrote. Once again, thank you so much for reading and hopefully enjoying this story. I'll see you guys next time for a new story or possibly one of my other ones actually getting finished. Time will tell. **


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